US President Joe Biden has hinted that he could possibly interact with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a face-to-face meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco scheduled in November.
"There has been no such meeting set up, but it is a possibility," the US President said while interacting with reporters on Friday (local time). This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the G20 Summit held in Bali, Indonesia last year.
White House officials also said earlier that they hoped the two leaders would hold discussions soon amid efforts by the Biden administration to get the Chinese to agree to a meet. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have made high-level visits to China to soothe strained relations between the two countries.
On the other hand, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, did not comment on the status of a possible Biden-Xi meeting in San Francisco but noted in a statement that the two countries “are in communication on bilateral engagement and exchange.
“China and the US need to work in the same direction, clear obstacles and manage differences with concrete actions, and enhance dialogue and expand cooperation in good faith,” he said.
Relations between the US and China
Ties between the United States and China have been strained in the past few years for multiple reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic, assistance to Taiwan, allegations of spying and human rights violations among other reasons. The differences were further exacerbated due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites in the US. China insisted that the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened the US with repercussions.
In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the White House made public an intelligence report that China is involved in providing weapons to Russia. "For the most part, China has been engaged in providing rhetorical, political, diplomatic support to Russia, but we have information that gives us concern that they are considering providing lethal support to Russia in the war against Ukraine," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in February.
US Senator Lindsey Graham said that Chinese support for Russian President Vladimir Putin would be "catastrophic" to the US-China relationship.
Meanwhile, Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi held talks last month on the Mediterranean island nation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will also lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to China next week.
(with AP inputs)
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