US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met in Luxembourg on Monday with the top Chinese diplomat for a “candid, substantive, and productive discussion” at a tense moment between their two countries, according to the White House. (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/13/politics/sullivan-yang-china-meeting/index.html) The talks, which hadn’t been announced beforehand, ran four-and-a-half hours. They came as a potential precursor to a meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which the White House has said is possible in the coming months. Disagreements on human rights, Taiwan, trade and China’s military expansion have caused strained relations between Washington and Beijing. Biden is also weighing whether to remove some tariffs on China that were imposed by former President Donald Trump in a bid to tame inflation in the United States. After Sullivan’s meeting with Yang Jiechi, a senior US administration official said to expect to “see additional potential meetings in the months ahead,” though they said nothing is currently being planned between Biden and Xi. Sullivan’s meeting with Yang came after a phone call last month ahead of Biden’s first visit to Asia. The White House has held a number of engagements over the past weeks to demonstrate its commitment to the Asia-Pacific, including hosting Southeast Asian leaders at the White House.