Joe Biden, China's Xi Jinping Meeting Planned For As Soon As Next Week: Report
Combative diplomatic exchanges with China early in the Biden
administration unnerved allies, and U.S. officials believe direct engagement
with Xi is the best way to prevent the relationship between the world's two
biggest economies from spiraling toward conflict.
Washington: A virtual meeting planned between U.S. President
Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be held as soon as next week, a
person briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Spokespersons for the White House and the Chinese embassy in
Washington declined to confirm whether the meeting would take place next week.
Combative U.S. diplomatic exchanges with China early in the
Biden administration unnerved allies, and U.S. officials believe direct
engagement with Xi is the best way to prevent the relationship between the
world's two biggest economies from spiraling toward conflict.
The two sides said they had reached an agreement in
principle to hold the virtual meeting between Biden and Xi before year-end
after talks in the Swiss city of Zurich last month between U.S. national
security adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi.
Sources told Reuters last month that, given China's domestic
COVID-19 restrictions and Xi's reluctance to travel, Washington was aiming for
a video conference call in November.
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean Pierre was
asked at a briefing on Monday about the timing of the virtual meeting and
reiterated there was an agreement in principle for Biden and Xi to hold it
before the end of the year.
She said working-level discussions were underway to confirm
details, but declined to offer specifics.
Stakes for the meeting are high - Washington and Beijing
have been sparring on issues from the origins of the pandemic to China's
expanding nuclear arsenal - but Biden's team has so far set low expectations
for specific outcomes.
Experts believe the two sides may work toward an agreement
to relax curbs on visas for each other's journalists and have also said a deal
to reopen consulates in Chengdu and Houston shuttered in a diplomatic dispute
in 2020 could help improve the mood.
The Biden administration has said, however, that a deal on
the consulates was not being discussed ahead of the meeting.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council
said last week that the planned meeting was part of U.S. efforts to responsibly
manage the competition with China and not about seeking specific deliverables.
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