United States President Joe Biden is hopeful of meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this year despite surging tensions with Beijing, according to the reports.
Biden-Jinping meeting is expected to take place in November this year on the sidelines of an Asian leaders summit hosted by the US President in San Francisco.
Biden said on Friday (August 18) that he hopes to follow up on last year’s meeting with Xi “this fall.”
“I expect and hope to follow up on our conversation from Bali this fall – that’s my expectation,” Biden said.
Biden and Xi last interacted in person on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali in November last year.
Biden’s remarks came hours after Washington in a joint statement — after the trilateral summit between US, Japan and South Korea — denounced the “dangerous and aggressive actions” by China in the Indo-Pacific region and opposed attempts to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific.
“We share concerns about actions inconsistent with the rules-based international order, which undermine regional peace and prosperity. Recalling the publicly announced position of each of our countries regarding the dangerous and aggressive behaviour supporting unlawful maritime claims that we have recently witnessed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea, we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific,” the statement read.
The three nations opposed the militarisation of reclaimed features, the dangerous use of coast guard and expressed their concern regarding illegal, unreported fishing.
“We reiterate our firm commitment to international law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The July 2016 award in the South China Sea arbitration sets out the legal basis for the peaceful resolution of maritime conflicts between the parties to that proceeding. We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” the joint statement said.
Biden and Xi, though met in November last year, have however spoken several times on phone. According to the officials, the two leaders are expected to speak again soon.
Earlier this month, in a scathing attack on China, Biden had described Xi’s China as a “ticking time bomb” citing economic concerns. In June, Biden had even called XI a “dictator”. Both statements were denounced by Beijing.
In another major decision, Biden administration imposed restrictions on US investment in high-tech areas in China and barred exports of advanced microchips.
(With ANI inputs)
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