Chinese language President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden by way of video hyperlink, in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 16, 2021.
Huang Jingwen | Xinhua Information Company | Getty Photos
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will focus on a variety of geopolitical challenges subsequent week in his first face-to-face assembly with Chinese language President Xi Jinping since he ascended to the White Home two years in the past.
“We anticipate this assembly to be an in-depth and substantive dialog between the leaders geared toward higher understanding each other’s priorities and intentions,” a senior Biden administration official instructed reporters on a name.
The assembly between the 2 leaders will happen Monday forward of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
“I anticipate the president will probably be sincere about quite a lot of our issues,” added the official, who spoke on the situation of anonymity.
The official mentioned that Biden will increase issues about dangerous financial practices, Chinese language exercise that “threatens peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait, in addition to our long-standing issues about human rights violations.”
Biden instructed reporters on the White Home on Wednesday that he needs to deal with the mounting tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“What I wish to do with him once we speak is lay out what every of our purple traces are and perceive what he believes to be within the important nationwide pursuits of China, what I do know to be the important pursuits of the US,” Biden mentioned. “And decide whether or not or not they battle with each other.”
The 2 leaders have spoken 5 instances throughout Biden’s presidency and beforehand mentioned a face-to-face assembly throughout a two-hour name in late July.
Xi has remained near house for the reason that begin of the Covid-19 pandemic. He launched into his first journey final month to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The senior Biden administration official declined to elaborate on Covid-19 mitigation measures for the assembly, including that well being protocols had been nonetheless being labored out by advance groups.
The decision in July got here as Biden drew Beijing’s ire by suggesting that the U.S. will defend Taiwan if it was attacked by China. In the course of the dialogue, Xi instructed Biden to not “play with hearth” over Taiwan. The White Home has repeatedly mentioned the remarks don’t characterize a change in U.S. international coverage.
On the time, Beijing additionally accused U.S. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi of additional straining the bilateral relationship with a visit to Taiwan, which China considers a part of its territory. Pelosi was the highest-ranking U.S. official to go to the island in 25 years.
In retaliation for Pelosi’s go to, Beijing imposed sanctions in opposition to her and launched live-fire navy drills across the island. Taiwanese protection officers referred to as the workouts “extremely provocative.”
Tensions between Beijing and Washington, the world’s two largest economies, had already soared to new heights below the Trump administration.
Former President Donald Trump positioned blame squarely on China for a variety of grievances, together with mental property theft, unfair commerce practices and the coronavirus pandemic.
US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping attend a enterprise leaders occasion contained in the Nice Corridor of the Folks in Beijing on November 9, 2017.
Nicolas Asfouri | AFP | Getty Photos
Biden has beforehand mentioned he would work extra carefully with allies with the intention to mount pushback in opposition to China’s financial abuses. He has additionally described Beijing as America’s “most critical competitor.”
Biden can also be anticipated to boost issues about Xi’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Moscow continues its monthslong assault on its ex-Soviet neighbor.
“I feel the president will probably be sincere and direct with President Xi about how we see the scenario in Ukraine with Russia’s struggle of aggression,” the official mentioned.
“It is a subject that the president and President Xi have spoken about a number of instances earlier than. They spoke about it extensively in March of their video name after which they spoke about it once more in July, so it is a part of an ongoing dialog between the 2 of them,” the individual added.
Weeks earlier than the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin traveled to Beijing to satisfy with Xi and later issued a memorandum expressing a “no limits” relationship between their nations.
Two weeks after Russian troops poured over Ukraine’s borders, officers from the US and China met to debate the Kremlin’s struggle in addition to different areas of mutual concern.
A senior administration official on the time described the talks, which had been held in Rome, as “intense” and spanning at the very least seven hours.
The official, who spoke to reporters on the situation of anonymity, mentioned Biden’s nationwide safety advisor, Jake Sullivan, conveyed to China’s prime diplomat, Yang Jiechi, that the U.S. is anxious Beijing might try to assist Russia blunt international sanctions.
“What I might say basically is that we do have deep issues about China’s alignment with Russia,” the official mentioned. “The nationwide safety advisor was direct about these issues and the potential implications and penalties of sure actions.”
