Biden’s national security adviser meets with Chinese official in first talks since spy balloon

White House National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with a top Chinese foreign affairs official in Vienna, the Biden administration announced Thursday.

The meeting between Mr. Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi is the highest-level talks between Washington and Beijing since a Chinese spy balloon flew over the U.S. and brought diplomatic relations between the two countries to the lowest levels in years.

The talks lasted for about eight hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

In January, the spy balloon traversed the U.S. and was able to gather intelligence from several military sites before it was shot down. Last month, federal prosecutors alleged that China used a secret police station in New York to track down and harass pro-democracy activists.

The incidents worsened already sour U.S.-China relations and raised concerns of spiraling into a larger crisis.

The recent incidents led to a “bit of a pause” in relations between the two countries and the need to “reestablish communication,” said a senior administration official.

“This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition,” the official said, describing the talks as “candid and constructive.”

The official declined to say if the effort to thaw tensions would lead to a meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders last met in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to travel to China in early February but the trip was postponed to protest the spy balloon incident.

Mr. Blinken said the balloon “created conditions that undermined the purpose of the trip.” U.S. officials have said he would take the trip again when relations improve.