U.S., Chinese officials meet in Malta to discuss Ukraine, other flashpoints

The discussions between Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, and Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, took place as the two governments are trying to set up a Biden-Xi meeting.

The White House announced Sunday that its national security adviser had met this weekend the most top Chinese diplomat in Malta, as part of efforts to keep communication open between the two nations and as political purges rock elite circles in Beijing.

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, met with Wang Yi, the Communist Party's top foreign policy official and China's foreign minister, on Saturday and Sunday, the White House said in its summary of the talks. The summary says they spoke about relations between the two nations, Russia's war in Ukraine and tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan, a de facto independent democratic island that the party aims to govern and which is an important partner of the United States.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A senior White House official told reporters in a telephone briefing on Sunday that Mr. Sullivan had reiterated the US concerns over recent Chinese military actions around Taiwan and other coercive activities, and said any disputes or conflicts should be resolved peacefully.

The official American also said that Mr. Sullivan had stressed that China should not try to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. At the heart of these concerns is the U.S. intelligence assessment that, since the winter, China has been considering sending weapons to President Vladimir V. Putin for his war. U.S. officials announced these findings in late February and then confronted them with Chinese officials. The White House official said China has so far refrained from sending substantial weapons.

A summary released by the Chinese government on Sunday says that Mr. Wang emphasized that the Taiwan issue was a "red line" for China, language that is consistent with the long-held view of Chinese leaders. The summary also said the officials discussed issues related to the Asia-Pacific region, the Korean Peninsula and Ukraine, as well as measures relating to "personnel exchanges" between the two countries.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" The White House summary said Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang agreed that the two governments would “pursue additional high-level engagement and consultation in key areas.” In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said they are trying to arrange a meeting between President Biden and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, on the sidelines of an international summit in San Francisco in November. However, recent developments, particularly within the Chinese government and party, have cast doubt on whether this will happen.

Questions swirl around recent purges within the highest levels of the party. The Chinese government and the Communist Party. U.S. officials determined last week that Gen. Li Shangfu, China's defense minister, who had not made any public appearances or statements since late August, had been investigated for corruption. In July, Mr. Xi abruptly ousted Qin Gang, the foreign minister, and announced that Mr. Wang, who had served as minister before being promoted to the country's top foreign policy post, party, would take over Mr. Qin's duties. U.S. intelligence agencies have been working hard to try to gather information about current conflicts within the ranks leaders, part of a shadow war of espionage and a much broader intelligence-gathering campaign between the United States and China.

Mr. Biden has made efforts since