The foundation for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month has been set by the three-day visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the US.
Next month’s encounter between Biden and Xi is expected to occur in the midst of high levels of tension between the two nations on a variety of issues, including aggressive military posturing by China, US worries about Chinese theft of vital Western technology, and the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Wang spoke with Biden, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken before calling the visit to an end on Friday.
The sessions, according to the Associated Press (AP), have prepared Biden and Xi for their encounter on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which will be held in San Francisco from November 11–17 of next month.
According to the anonymous person, the US and Chinese governments are still figuring out the meeting’s precise date, location, and other arrangements, as reported by AP.
Following a series of high-profile trips to China and talks with prominent Chinese figures, such as Blinken, Secretary of Treasury Janet L. Yellin, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Sullivan, Wang made her way to the United States. The meeting between Biden and Xi is the strongest indication to far that the Biden administration is still primarily focused on China, which it regards as its largest geopolitical rival, even as it manages two conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
According to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Biden saw his meeting with Wang as “a positive development, and a good opportunity to keep the conversation going,” as reported by the Associated Press. The White House further stated that Biden “underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges” and “emphasized that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication.”
As to the US Department of State’s readout of the Blinken-Wang conversations, Blinken “reiterated that the United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners” while the officials discussed “areas of difference” and “areas of cooperation”.
Wang’s visit to the US coincided with heightened tensions between the two nations over US export restrictions on cutting-edge technology to China, as well as China’s assertive military actions in the South China Sea and stepped-up espionage efforts in the West, where a spy balloon earlier this year heightened tensions even further. There have also been rumors of espionage in Canada and the UK.
Tensions over issues like Chinese espionage and US limits on technology exports to China have lately characterized those ties. Furthermore, in February, they were put to the test when a Chinese spy balloon flew over American territory and was shot down by an American fighter aircraft off the coast of North Carolina. However, Biden administration officials assert that discussion may reduce the likelihood of confrontation over China’s territorial claim to the democratic island of Taiwan and that collaboration with China is still essential on subjects like artificial intelligence and climate change, as reported by The New York Times.
The US military just on Thursday made public a video showing a Chinese fighter jet approaching an American B-52 bomber over the South China Sea to within 10 feet (three meters), almost resulting in an accident. The Department of Defense earlier this month disclosed film showing over 18p intercepts of US air force jets being caught by Chinese troops in the previous two years; the authorities warned that this pattern was worrying, as the AP further noted.
Following Chinese ships’ blocking of and collision with two Philippine boats off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the United States has also reiterated its warning that it would protect the Philippines in the event of an armed assault in accordance with a security agreement. The Chinese naval ship’s bow was seen in Beijing’s film of near calls in the area, which it said showed the USS Ralph Johnson turning sharply and passing in front of it. While cruising between two Chinese ships, the US warship was also apprehended, according to the AP.
