US President Joe Biden is still hoping to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, later this year despite rising tensions with Beijing, CNN reported on Friday.
Notably, the two leaders are scheduled to meet in November of this year, concurrent with a summit of Asian leaders that Biden is hosting. On Friday, Biden told CNN that he hoped to follow up with Xi on their meeting from the previous year “this fall.”
“I expect and hope to follow up on our conversation from Bali this fall; that’s my expectation,” Biden said.
After the US, Japan, and South Korea held a trilateral summit, Washington issued a joint statement denouncing China’s “dangerous and aggressive actions” in the Indo-Pacific region and opposing efforts to alter the status quo.
“We share concerns about actions inconsistent with the rules-based international order, which undermine regional peace and prosperity. Recalling the publicly announced position of each of our countries regarding the dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims that we have recently witnessed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea, we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific,” the statement read.
The militarization of reclaimed features, the risky use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, and coercive activities were all opposed by the three nations. They also expressed concern over illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. “We reiterate our firm commitment to international law, including the freedom of navigation and over flight, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The July 2016 award in the South China Sea arbitration sets out the legal basis for the peaceful resolution of maritime conflicts between the parties to that proceeding.
We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” the joint statement added.
Remarkably, Biden and Xi last spoke face-to-face at the G20 summit in Bali last November.
However, the two leaders have spoken on the phone several times, and according to officials, they plan to do so again soon, possibly before or after the Asian leader’s summit that Vice President Biden will host in November in San Francisco, according to CNN. Biden had earlier this month, citing economic worries, called Xi’s China a “ticking time bomb” in a vicious attack on China.
Even so, Biden had referred to XI as a “dictator” in June. Beijing criticized both of the statements. Another significant decision made by the Biden administration limited US investment in China’s high-tech sectors and prohibited the export of cutting-edge microchips.
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