It’ll be the primary personal meeting of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies since Biden became president in January 2021, and can happen just a few weeks after Xi received the award violation of standards, the third, five-year term of office as leader of the Communist Party of China at a national party congress.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in an announcement that the leaders would meet to “discuss efforts to keep up and deepen the lines of communication between” the 2 countries, and to “responsibly manage competition and cooperate where our interests converge, especially when transnational challenges that affect the international community ”.
The White House has been working with Chinese officials for several weeks to rearrange a gathering. Biden on Wednesday told reporters he intended to talk to Xi the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the autonomous island of Taiwan, trade policy, Beijing’s relationship with Russia and more.
“What I would like to do with him after we speak to him is to discover what our red lines are and understand what he believes is in China’s national critical interests, which I do know are critical US interests.” said Biden. “And determine in the event that they are in conflict with one another.”
A high-ranking administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to debate the summit, tried to downplay expectations of the meeting, telling reporters on Thursday that no joint announcement or outcomes were foreseen. Quite, the official said Biden sought to construct a “union floor.”
Biden and Xi traveled together across the USA and China in 2011 and 2012, when each leaders served as vice-presidents of their respective countries, and since Biden became president in January 2021, they’ve made five telephone or video calls. has turn into way more complicated since those talks in Washington and on the Tibetan Plateau ten years ago.
As president, Biden repeatedly punished China for human rights violations against Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities, Beijing’s repression of democratic activists Hong Kongcompulsory trade practices, military provocations against self-government Taiwan and differences over Russia’s waging war against Ukraine.
Weeks before the premiere of Vladimir Putin invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president met with Xi in Beijing and the 2 issued a memorandum expressing the hope of an “unlimited” relationship for his or her peoples.
China has largely avoided criticizing the war with Russia, but has thus far avoided delivering arms to Moscow.
“I do not think China has much respect for Russia or Putin,” Biden said Wednesday. “They really kept their distance a bit.”
Leaders were also expected to deal with the US frustration that Beijing had not used its influence to pressure North Korea to withdraw from conducting provocative missile tests and abandon its nuclear weapons program. Biden was scheduled to debate the North Korean threats with South Korean and Japanese leaders the day before his meeting with Xi.
Xi’s government criticized the Biden administration’s stance towards Taiwan – which Beijing intends to eventually reunite with the communist continent – as undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese president has also suggested that Washington desires to stifle Beijing’s growing position because it seeks to overtake the US because the world’s largest economy.
Tensions around Taiwan have increased since home president Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August.
Biden said he “doesn’t have the desire to make any fundamental concessions” on Taiwan’s doctrine in the USA.
In keeping with the “One China” policy, the USA recognizes the federal government in Beijing while allowing for casual relations and defense ties with Taipei. It takes a position of “strategic ambiguity” to defend Taiwan – leaving it open to query whether it could have reacted militarily if the island were attacked.
When asked in regards to the expected meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a press briefing on Thursday that China was looking for “win-win cooperation” while reiterating Beijing’s concerns in regards to the US stance on Taiwan.
“America must stop obscuring, delving into and distorting the One China principle, and uphold basic standards in diplomacy, including respect for the sovereignty of other countries, territorial integrity and non-interference in the interior affairs of other countries,” he said.
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 go militarily to defend Taiwan within the event of a Chinese invasion. The White House and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were quick to clarify that there had been no change in US policy.
Beijing sees America’s official contact with Taiwan as an incentive to consolidate its decades-long de facto independence, a step that American leaders don’t support. Pelosi is a senior elected US official who visits from then-speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Xi stayed near home through the global COVID-19 pandemic, where he introduced a zero COVID policy that led to massive blockages that shook global supply chains.
He did his first trip outside of China because the starting of the pandemic in September with a stop in Kazakhstan after which in Uzbekistan to take part in the eight-national Shanghai Organization for Cooperation with Putin and other leaders of the Central Asian security group.
US officials desired to see Xi approach the meeting after he was newly authorized for a 3rd term and cemented his position because the undisputed leader of the state, saying they might wait to evaluate if this could make him kind of inclined to search out areas cooperation with the USA
They stressed that the outcomes of the party congresses had reinforced the importance of Xi’s direct involvement, not of lower-level officials whom they deemed unable or unwilling to talk on behalf of the Chinese leader.
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