Senior Chinese official Wang Yi meets U.S. Sullivan

VALLETTA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese and U.S. officials held multiple rounds of meetings in Malta on Saturday and Sunday, agreeing to maintain high-level exchanges and hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs as well as foreign policies.

The meetings were between Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in the China-U.S. relationship and the U.S. must abide by the three China-U.S. joint communiques and honor its commitment to not support "Taiwan independence."

The two sides conducted candid, substantive and constructive strategic communication on stabilizing and improving China-U.S. relations.

Wang said China's development has strong endogenous driving force and follows inevitable historical logic and it cannot be stopped. The Chinese people's legitimate right to development cannot be deprived, he added.

The two sides agreed to continue to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Bali, maintain high-level exchanges, hold consultations between the two countries on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs and foreign policies.

They discussed measures to further support and facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries.

The two sides also discussed the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula and other international and regional issues.