Relations between the U.S. and China are generally strained over a whole list of contentious issues.
The affair of alleged Chinese espionage in the United States put an additional strain on the relationship. The talks in Vienna focused on bilateral relations, global and regional security issues and Russia's war against Ukraine, among other things. It was the first meeting in this format after Sullivan and China's top foreign policy official at the time, Yang Jiechi, spoke in Luxembourg in June 2022. The meeting did not provide a real easing of tensions – and concrete plans to make up for Blinken's trip to Beijing are not yet known.