United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold a virtual meeting on Monday, November 15, amid tensions between the two countries, the White House said.
Biden and Xi will discuss how to “responsibly manage” the competition between their countries as well as ways to work together, said a press note.
“Throughout [the meeting], President Biden will make clear US intentions and priorities and be clear and candid about our concerns with the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” it added.
The two leaders had spoken over the phone in September. Biden had said during the call that the dynamics between the US and China should remain competitive without veering towards “unintended conflict”.
The meeting between the two presidents on Monday is expected to be their most extensive one under the Biden administration, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, China said on Friday it had been speaking to the US about specific arrangements for the meeting.
“It is hoped that the US can work with China toward the same direction and make concerted efforts to make the heads-of-state meeting a success, which will steer the China-US relationship back to the right track of sound and steady development,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
The US and China have had differences on many matters since Biden assumed office in January. The Biden administration has maintained the trade tariffs on China imposed by former US President Donald Trump in 2018. The tariffs – a tax imposed on imported goods – allow the president to restrict foreign commerce that “unfairly burden” the US.
The US and China had also criticised each other’s policies at high-level talks in Alaska in March – the first since Biden took office.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had criticised China for human rights violation in Xinjiang region, Tibet and Hong Kong, while Chinese official Yang Jiechi accused the US of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries.
China and the US have also had disagreements over Taiwan, Beijing’s claims over territories in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic.
The US, India, Japan and Australia have sought to boost their cooperation in view of China’s increasing power. The countries had held their first meeting as Quad grouping in September. Biden hosted the meeting at the White House.
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