China-US meeting in Thailand | Abroad

The meeting comes after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to resume military ties between the two countries. The two met in November 2023 in Woodside, south of San Francisco. Beijing and Washington agreed to remain “responsible” in relations between their countries at the time.

Last year, Sullivan and Wang held two secret meetings in Vienna and Malta to pave the way for Biden and Xi in November, the Financial Times writes. Wang Yi is now traveling from Bangkok on an invitation and will be in the country until January 29, his ministry said.

Relations between Washington and Beijing appear to have stabilized somewhat in recent months, but tensions remain high in some areas. For example, the two countries closely followed Taiwan's presidential election last month. Washington is an ally of the island nation and warns China to refrain from any potential aggression. William Lee, popularly known as Lai Ching-te, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from China was elected president.

In addition to the Sino-US meeting, a meeting between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and his North Korean counterpart Cho Son Hui is scheduled for Friday.

Pyongyang has recently lashed out at South Korea and the United States. North Korea sees Russia as an ally. Last year, Washington warned of “strong and dangerous” military cooperation between the two. So Washington called on Pyongyang to moderate Beijing. The leaders of China and North Korea recently declared 2024 as the year of friendship between the two countries.