Newsman: President Joe Biden held a three-hour talk Monday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.This was their first in-person encounter since Biden took office. Both sides appeared to hope would lead to an improvement in rapidly deteriorating relations. President Joe Biden said after his meeting Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he is confident China is not preparing to attack Taiwan.
“I do not think there’s any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan. And I made it clear that our policy in Taiwan has not changed at all,” Biden said at a news conference in Bali.
President Biden also said the US midterm elections sent a strong message around the globe “that the United States is ready to play.”
President Biden said he and Xi had a clear and candid conversation during the meeting, which was limited to the two presidents and their closest advisers.
The meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies happened on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, which is being held this year on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia.
President Biden said he and Xi also discussed the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in its war in Ukraine.
“We discussed Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, reaffirmed our shared belief in the threat or the use of nuclear weapons is totally unacceptable,” Biden said.
Biden told reporters later that he also brought up North Korea in the meeting.
“I’ve made it clear to President Xi Jinping that I thought they had an obligation to attempt to make it clear to North Korea that they should not engage in long-range nuclear tests,” Biden said, adding that if it did, the U.S. would have to take defensive actions.
The US president was frank that he and Xi came nowhere near resolving the litany of issues that have helped drive the US-China relationship to its lowest point in decades.
“I’m not suggesting this is kumbaya,” Biden said at a news conference, “but I do not believe there’s a need for concern, as one of you raised a legitimate question, a new Cold War.”
He described Xi as not overly confrontational but instead “the way he’s always been: direct and straightforward.”
“He was clear, and I was clear that we will defend American interests and values, promote universal human rights and stand up for the international order and work in lockstep with our allies and partners,” Biden said. “We’re going to compete vigorously but I’m not looking for conflict.”
The meeting began in the later afternoon with Biden and Xi walking toward each other from opposite sides of a hotel lobby, shaking hands in front of a row of US and Chinese flags. They smiled for cameras and Xi – through a translator.
“As leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever nearing conflict and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” Biden said as the talks got underway.
“The world expects, I believe, China and the United States to play key roles in addressing global challenges,” he said.
Speaking second, Xi seemed to offer what could be interpreted as a pointed message to his counterpart, who has spent more than half-a-century on the world stage.
“A statesman should think about and know where to lead his country,” Xi said through a translator. “He should also think about and know how to get along with other countries and the wider world.”
China has been engaging in what the United States earlier described as “provocative” behavior in the Taiwan Strait after it conducted military drills in August on the heels of a visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But later in the day, Biden denied a conflict was brewing. “I made it clear that we want to see cross-Strait issues peacefully resolved,” Biden said. “I am convinced he understood exactly what I was saying.”
Biden said at his news conference that both leaders agreed Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit China to follow up on their discussions.
Biden Xi before their meeting that the U.S. and China can work together.
“The world expects, I believe, China and the United States to play key roles in addressing global challenges from climate change to food insecurity and for us to be able to work together,” Biden told Xi before their meeting. “The United States stands ready to do just that – work with you – if that’s what you desire.”
“I’m committed to keeping the lines of communications open between you and me personally, but also our governments across the board,” Biden told Xi on Monday, emphasizing both countries share a responsibility to “manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever to near conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation.”
Xi responded: “The world has come to a crossroads. Where to go from here – this is a question that is not only on our mind but also on the mind of all countries. The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship.”
Biden and Xi last met in 2017 in Davos, Switzerland, on one of Biden’s final days as vice president. Since becoming president in 2021, Biden had spoken with Xi by phone video five times before their meeting Monday.
The White House said in a statement after the meeting that Biden raised concerns about human rights and China’s provocations around Taiwan. But they found at least one area of apparent agreement – that nuclear weapons cannot be used in Ukraine, where that nation is trying to fight off a Russian invasion.
“President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won,” a White House readout said, referring to the threat of nuclear weapons use in Ukraine.
And he sought to convince Xi that a nuclear armed North Korea was not in China’s interests – particularly because further nuclear or long-range missile tests by Pyongyang could prompt Biden to scale up American military presence in the region.
“It’s difficult to determine whether or not China has the capacity” to convince Kim Jong Un to back off his tests, Biden said. “I’m confident China is not looking for North Korea to engage in further escalatory means.”
“As leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever nearing conflict and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” Biden said as the talks got underway.
“The world expects, I believe, China and the United States to play key roles in addressing global challenges,” he said.
Speaking second, Xi seemed to offer what could be interpreted as a pointed message to his counterpart, who has spent more than half-a-century on the world stage.
“A statesman should think about and know where to lead his country,” Xi said through a translator. “He should also think about and know how to get along with other countries and the wider world.”
