Washington, November 14 (BNA): President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their virtual summit on Monday evening, as the two sides search for tensions after the difficult start of US-China relations since Biden took office. earlier this year.
The White House is setting low expectations for the video call between the leaders. Biden is looking to underscore that the two countries need to erect protective barriers in deep conflict zones in the increasingly complex relationship between the two countries. White House officials said that no major announcements are expected from the meeting, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that the two leaders will discuss how to manage competition between the two countries and cooperate in areas where interests align.
The meeting will be the third meeting between the two leaders since February. This comes after the United States and China pledged this week at United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, to increase their cooperation and accelerate action to curb climate-damaging emissions.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy advisor Yang Jiechi reached an agreement on holding a virtual Biden-Xi summit by the end of the year when they met last month for talks in Zurich, but the two sides failed to reach a date.
The virtual meeting was proposed after Biden, who spent a significant amount of time with Xi when they were vice presidents, said during a September phone call with the Chinese leader that he would like to be able to see Xi again, according to The White newspaper. a house.
Xi has not left China during the coronavirus pandemic. White House officials have proposed a virtual summit as the best available alternative for the two leaders to have a substantive conversation on a number of issues that have soured relations between the United States and China.
“We hope the United States will work with China to jointly strive for the success of the leaders’ summit and bring China-US relations back on the right track of sound and stable development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday.
Biden, at the G-20 meeting in Rome and again at the United Nations climate meeting, criticized Xi for failing to come to summits, where world leaders discussed ways forward on the pandemic and steps to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The two leaders participated in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) virtual meeting on Friday, where leaders discussed efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and support global economic recovery.
RAE