What’s new: China’s top diplomat and Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi will meet U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Monday in Rome, according to the official People’s Daily.
The two will discuss China-U.S. relations and international and regional issues of common concern, the newspaper said. The White House confirmed the planned meeting.
The context: The meeting between Yang and Sullivan will be the first high-level, in-person talks between China and the U.S. since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s war against Ukraine will be among the topics to be discussed between Yang and Sullivan, according to U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.
In a column published in the New York Times Sunday, Wang Huiyao, head of a Beijing think tank and adviser to the Chinese government, said China was "uniquely positioned to act as a neutral mediator between a Western-supported Ukraine and Russia" to end the war.
The last time Sullivan and Yang met was in Switzerland in October when they discussed bilateral issues such as climate change.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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