Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will face each other in person next Monday, for the first time since the Democratic leader arrived at the White House in January 2021. Until now, the presidents of the US and China had only held virtual meetings for videoconference, although they had met in person when Biden was Barack Obama's vice president.
The meeting will take place on Monday within the framework of the G-20 summit in Bali (Indonesia) and on the agenda will be the dispute between Taiwan and China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to what the House Press Secretary reported on Thursday. White, Karine Jean-Pierre.
The two presidents will meet to "discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication" between the two countries and to "work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges," Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Biden already declared on Wednesday that he intended to discuss with Xi the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the island of Taiwan, China's trade policy and the relationship with Russia, among other issues.
"What I want to do with him (Xi) when we talk is for each of us to lay out what our red lines are and understand what he thinks are the critical national interests of China and what I know are the critical interests of the United States." ", Biden said. "And determine if they are in conflict with each other or not," added the US president.
Monday's meeting between Xi and Biden will come less than a month after the Chinese Communist Party Congress, where the Chinese leader was elected to his third consecutive term.
