Xi Jinping and Joe Biden likely to meet by year's end despite little progress in preparatory talks

After 11 hours of meetings between United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese officials in Beijing this week, both sides made clear that they remained as far apart as ever on most issues. But they made enough progress to arrange a phone call between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in the coming weeks and a likely meeting between the two presidents before the end of the year. Sullivan's visit to Beijing was the first by a White House national security adviser in eight years but it was the latest in a series of meetings with Chinese foreign…