Jake Sullivan’s visit to Beijing last month was the first by a U.S. national security adviser in eight years. The purpose of the trip was to address rising tensions between the United States and China over Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan, as well as China’s ongoing support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Sullivan said his discussion with Gen. Zhang Youxia of the Central Military Commission was a “very important meeting,” and the White House affirmed that it was “to prevent competition from veering into conflict.”

Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, said, “Any talks at any level between China and the US are always welcome....The key is to avoid a conflict and the way forward is to keep open lines of communication wherever possible.”

But over the past three and a half years, there have been multiple U.S.-China talks with military and civilian officials at various levels, up to and including President Biden and General Secretary Xi Jinping. Not long after each meeting, China has taken some action — military, economic or diplomatic — that has precipitated a U.S. response and begun a new cycle of deteriorating relations that require renewed meetings or phone calls to lower tensions.

China and its sympathizers argue that dramatic Chinese actions, such as the firing of missiles over Taiwan and the obvious rehearsal for a blockade of the island, followed........

© The Hill