Biden’s security adviser travels to Beijing to manage tensions with China

President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will travel to Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart and manage tensions between the superpowers.

The White House said it is the first time a national security adviser has traveled to China since Susan Rice went as part of the Obama administration in 2016.

Mr. Sullivan will sit down with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, as part of a long-running effort by the U.S. to manage its relationship with China without spilling into open conflict, according to a senior administration official.

“This is an intensely competitive relationship,” the official said. “We are committed to managing this competition responsibly, however.”

Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang are expected to discuss China’s support for Russia’s military-industrial base during the Ukraine war and China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

The pair will likely discuss North Korea, the Middle East and turmoil in Burma, also known as Myanmar. They will also discuss the benefits and risks of the “rapidly evolving” artificial intelligence sector, the official said.

Mr. Sullivan will press China to thwart chemical exports used by Mexican cartels and others to create fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is killing American drug users.

The administration downplayed the role of the upcoming election in the timing of the trip, saying they tried to schedule it earlier in the year.

A senior administration official said Mr. Sullivan would focus on the balance of Mr. Biden’s term and the transition but wouldn’t attempt to speak for a future administration, as Vice President Kamala Harris runs for the White House.

“That will be up to the next administration to determine,” the official said.

This will be Mr. Sullivan’s fifth meeting with Mr. Wang. They met in Vienna, Malta and Washington in 2023 and in Bangkok in January.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the days of the week that Jake Sullivan would be in Beijing. He will be there from Tuesday, Aug. 27, to Thursday, Aug. 29.