He would be looking too to hear China’s assessment of the situation in the Middle East, where the two sides have different approaches but some shared concerns about instability.
“It really is about clearing up misperceptions and avoiding this competition from veering into conflict more than anything else,” the official said.
The official said there were areas where the sides could cooperate, such as the crisis of fentanyl flooding into the US.
“The fight against illicit precursor chemicals and fentanyl is … a constantly evolving trade, and so there are always things we need to push forward.”
Critics in Washington argue the Biden administration has not put enough pressure on Beijing over fentanyl-related substances, which are the leading cause US drug of overdoses.
China says it is cracking down on fentanyl and precursor chemicals and that the US crisis is a problem of demand, not supply.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Wang and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in April. That visit brought little progress on contentious issues, although there was some effort to ease the mood by emphasising educational and other cultural exchanges.
Blinken reiterated Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s actions toward Taiwan and its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine when he met Wang in Laos in July.
