Washington, May 11 (PTI) The White House on Thursday said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had meetings with a top Chinese diplomat in Vienna this week, amidst reports of the Biden administration reviving its channel of communication with Beijing which was majorly impacted in the aftermath of the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon over continental America.

Sullivan met from May 10 to May 11 with Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Vienna, the White House said on Thursday.

Also Read | Malaysia: Minor Brothers, Aged Six and Three, Escape Unhurt After Ramming Parents' Car Into Lampost in Langkawi.

“The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key issues in the US-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia's war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics,” said a readout of the meeting.

According to the White House, this meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition.

Also Read | Vatican Formally Recognises 21 Coptic Orthodox Workers Beheaded by ISIS in Libya As Martyrs, Gives Them Feast Day.

“The two sides agreed to maintain this important strategic channel of communication to advance these objectives, building on the engagement between President Biden and President Xi in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022,” it said.

According to Daniel Russel, vice president of International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, historically, the channel between the US National Security Advisor and the top Chinese foreign affairs official has been important in the US-China relationship.

“Today, it appears to be virtually the only significant channel still operating between the two governments. Beijing always prefers to deal with a National Security Advisor because of their proximity to power – to the US President. The Chinese system works differently, but Wang Yi is unquestionably the right interlocutor given his extensive diplomatic experience and the important position in the Party he recently assumed from Yang Jiechi,” he said.

"As in the past, the National Security Advisor's meeting with his Chinese counterpart took place without fanfare and out of the media spotlight, avoiding the damaging public sparring in front of the press that has occurred elsewhere. This discreet handling is both important and encouraging,” Russel said.

"In addition, it is not a coincidence that just last week the Chinese foreign minister, a full six months after taking office, invited US Ambassador Nick Burns to a formal meeting – effectively ending the diplomatic quarantine Beijing had imposed on the American Ambassador,” he said.

"Hopefully the long-awaited Chinese Ambassador-designate, Xie Feng, will soon take up the vacant position at the Chinese embassy in Washington. Burns and Sullivan's meetings do not mean that US-China relations are necessarily on the mend, or that Secretary Blinken's visit or President Biden's phone call is imminent,” Russel said.

"Both sides are delivering stern – sometimes angry – messages in these meetings; conveying complaints and warnings to the other side about priority concerns such as Taiwan, tech restrictions, Russia-Ukraine, the risk of a military confrontation, and neuralgic issues like the surveillance balloon,” he noted.

"Neither Sullivan nor Wang is going to give ground on the priority issues, but these meetings create the possibility they may find some common ground that can help stabilise a relationship that is dangerously volatile," Russel said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)