President Joe Biden will meet with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the the Group of 20 Summit next week in Bali, Indonesia, a face-to-face meeting that comes between relationships more and more tense between the United States and China, the White House announced Thursday.
Sara the first meeting in person among the leaders of the world’s two largest economies since Biden became president in January 2021 and comes weeks after Xi received a third five-year term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party during his presidency. national party congress.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that leaders will meet to “discuss efforts to maintain and deepen the lines of communication between ”the two countries and to“ manage competition responsibly and work together where our interests align, especially in transnational challenges“. affecting the international community.
weeks of negotiations
The White House worked with Chinese officials during the last few weeks to organize the meeting. Biden told reporters Wednesday that she intended to discuss with Xi the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing on the autonomous island of Taiwan, trade policies, Beijing’s relations with Russia, and more.
“What I want to do with him when we talk is exhibit what are our red lines and understand what he believes is in China’s national critical interests, what I know are the critical interests of the United States, “Biden said.” And determine whether or not they conflict with each other. “
A senior official from the Biden administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the summittried to minimize expectations for the meeting and on Thursday he told reporters that he didn’t no joint press releases or meeting results were expected. Rather, the official said, Biden intended to build a “plan for the relationship”.
Biden and Xi traveled together to the United States and China in 2011 and 2012 when both leaders served as vice president their respective countries, e they made five phone calls or video calls since Biden took office in January 2021. But the relationship between the United States and China it has become much more complicated.
As president, Biden has repeatedly scolded China on human rights violations against the Uighur people and other ethnic minorities, Beijing’s crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong, coercive business practices, military provocations against Taiwan’s self-government and differences over the judicial proceedings by the Russia because of its war against Ukraine.
Weeks before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president met Xi in Beijing and the two issued a memorandum expressing hope that a relationship “without limits” for their nations.
China has largely refrained from doing so criticize the Russian warbut so far it has refrained from supplying arms to Moscow.
“I don’t think China has much respect for Russia or Putin,” Biden said Wednesday. “And, in fact, they kept their distance a little.”
North Korea
Leaders should also address US frustrations for which Beijing has not used its influence put pressure on North Korea for what stop doing it provocative missile tests and abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Biden decided to discuss North Korea’s threats with the leaders of South Korea and Japan one day before sitting down with Xi.
The Xi government criticized the position of the Biden administration towards Taiwan, which Beijing ultimately seeks to unify with the Communist mainland, for undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese president also suggested that Washington wants repress Beijing’s growing influence in its quest to overtake the United States as the largest economy in the world.
Taiwan
Tensions over Taiwan have increased since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August.
Biden said that “is not willing to make fundamental concessions “ on the Taiwanese doctrine of the United States.
Under its “One China” policy, the United States recognizes the Beijing government while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. A position of “strategic ambiguity” towards the defense of Taiwan is needed, leaving open the question of whether it would respond militarily if the island were attacked.
Biden caused a stir in Asia in May when he said “yes” at a press conference in Tokyo when asked if he was willing to engage militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. The White House and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were quick to make it clear that there had been no change in US policy.
Beijing sees US official contact with Taiwan as an encouragement to make the island’s de facto independence permanent, a move US leaders say they do not support. Pelosi is the highest elected U.S. official to visit then-President Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Xi stayed close to home during the global COVID-19 pandemic, where it implemented a “COVID zero” policy that led to massive blockages that disrupted global supply chains.
Associated Press
Source: Clarin
