Both presidents have spoken by phone twice at length since Biden’s inauguration in January. Given Xi’s refusal to travel abroad due to the pandemic, an online meeting was chosen to hold direct conversations.
Biden’s advisers present the summit as an opportunity to try to avoid an escalation in tensions, particularly over Taiwan, an autonomous democracy that China considers a fractious province.
“We know that, as a responsible global leader, it is important to keep communication channels open,” a senior US government official told reporters, saying that the “competition” between the two powers should not lead to a “conflict”.
“The president will also make it clear that we want to build common safeguards to avoid miscalculations or misunderstandings,” he added, although he sought to moderate expectations by noting that great results are not expected from the summit.
The meeting will take place on Monday at 7:00 p.m. Washington time, 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday in Beijing, and expected to last several hours. In addition to the presidents and their interpreters, the source did not specify who exactly would attend.
The meeting comes after Biden criticized the absence of Xi Jinping – who has not left China for two years due to the pandemic – in important international meetings and at times when the Chinese leader strengthens his control over the regime.
Relations between the two powers collapsed during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021), who launched a trade war against China while attacking Beijing for its handling of the pandemic.
While the tone improved with the arrival of Biden to the White House, the relationship between Washington and Beijing is very tense, because of Taiwan and a wide range of human rights and trade issues.
The fate of Taiwan is currently generating the most tension, in the face of an intensification of Chinese military activities with a record number of incursions into the island’s air defense zone.
The tension was evident over the weekend, when the Secretary of State Antony Blink and its Chinese counterpart Wang Yi they had a lively exchange.
Blinken expressed “concern over Beijing’s continued military, diplomatic and economic pressure” on Taipei, while Wang warned against any US action that could be construed as support for “Taiwan independence.”
China on Monday put the responsibility of improving relations on Biden’s shoulders.
“We hope that the United States will work in the same direction as China to get along,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
However, the US official said that Biden “will be very direct and frank on the issues that cause us concern,” alluding to “China’s coercive and provocative behavior with respect to Taiwan” as well as what Washington considers human rights violations. and aggressive business practices by China.
However, he stressed that there is room for cooperation in various areas, such as climate change.
Source From: Ambito
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