BEIJING, Aug 29, (AP): A top Chinese military officer, in a rare meeting with a visiting American official, demanded Thursday that the United States stop "collusion” with Taiwan, the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule. Gen Zhang Youxia, one of two vice chairs of the Central Military Commission, told White House National Security

Adviser Jake Sullivan that promoting what China calls the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland is "the mission and responsibility” of the military, according to a statement from China's Defense Ministry. Sullivan was wrapping up a three-day trip to China, his first as national security adviser and one aimed at maintaining communication to avoid differences over Taiwan and other issues from spiraling into conflict.

Both governments are eager to keep relations on an even keel ahead of a change in the US presidency in January. "Your request to meet with me shows the value you attach to military security and the relationship between our militaries,” Zhang said in brief opening remarks. Sullivan said "it is rare that we have the opportunity to have this kind of exchange” and underscored "the need for us to responsibly manage US-China relations.”

The meeting came one day after the White House said that both countries would plan for a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden in the coming weeks. There was no indication whether the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves the Oval Office. The announcement followed Sullivan's main talks on this trip, a day and a half of meetings with Wang Yi, the foreign minister and the ruling Communist Party’s top foreign policy official.

The US doesn't recognize Taiwan as an independent country but is its main supplier of arms for its defense. China and Taiwan split in 1949 at the end of a civil war that brought the communists to power in China. The rival Nationalists fled to Taiwan, where they set up a government on the island about 160 kilometers (100 miles) across the Taiwan Strait from the Chinese coast.