China warns US on Taiwan briefing
China yesterday condemned a White House plan to brief Taiwan on the results of a much-anticipated meeting between President Joe Biden and his counterpart, Xi Jinping, next week on the sidelines of a G20 gathering in Indonesia. The two leaders will meet on Monday, the White House said, for their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president, amid low expectations for significant breakthroughs. China confirmed the planned meeting but did not give a date. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced the plan to brief Taiwan about the talks on Thursday, telling reporters the United States aimed to make Taiwan feel "secure and comfortable" about US support. But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said any such briefing by the United States for Taiwan would violate a US promise to maintain only non-official contacts with the island. Several analysts have said that both sides may use the talks to seek clarification on each other's "red lines", identify areas for cooperation and to stabilise relations, but significant progress is unlikely. "I don't think we can expect any breakthrough," Collin Koh, a research fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told Reuters.
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