WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China have agreed to work to organize a meeting next month between their presidents, after a meeting Friday in Washington between Joe Biden and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Published on: 10/28/2023 – 11:21 Last updated: 10/28/2023 – 11:19
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Despite the bilateral tension, the US President hopes to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, which will be held in San Francisco in mid-November.
The Chinese President did not confirm his attendance.
During his meeting with Wang Yi, the US President called on China to work with the United States to manage their relationship “responsibly” and “jointly confront global challenges.”
A statement issued by the White House said that Biden told Wang that the two rival superpowers, who are engaged in a fierce competition, must “manage their relationship responsibly and keep channels of communication open.”
Wang Yi is making a rare visit to Washington, as part of his intense diplomatic action aimed at helping calm the troubled relationship between the two countries and finding common ground.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby did not provide any information related to receiving a positive response from Beijing to the Chinese President’s invitation to visit the United States.
But an American official, who did not want to reveal his identity, said, “We are working together” on a similar visit on the occasion of the APEC summit.
“Stop retreating”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday in a report on the talks between Wang Yi and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, “The two sides agreed to work together to organize a meeting between the two presidents in San Francisco.”
The Chinese minister informed Biden, according to another statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, that the goal of his visit is “to work to stop the decline in Chinese-American relations, make them stable, and return them as soon as possible to a path of healthy and regular development.”
Addressing the US President, Wang added, “We must act responsibly toward the world, history, and peoples, and adhere to three principles: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and peer-to-peer cooperation.”
The last meeting between Biden and Xi dates back to the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022.
The atmosphere of mistrust continues between Beijing and Washington, which are engaged in a war of influence, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
Biden says he intends to bring China into an all-out competition “in accordance with international rules.”
The United States has strengthened its alliances in Asia, with India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and even Vietnam.
However, Beijing views this as “encirclement” by Washington, which the latter denies.
“Biggest threat”
During discussions with Wang Yi, American officials expressed concern about Chinese activities in the South China Sea, an area disputed between several countries.
They also urged Beijing, to no avail, to resume direct contacts between the Chinese and American armies. These contacts are still suspended because China considers that the United States lacks frankness, especially since Washington regularly sends military planes and ships to near its coasts or the islands it controls.
The issue of Taiwan, the island that China considers part of its territory, remains a sensitive issue in the context of the relationship between the two countries, as Beijing accuses Washington of stoking tensions over it and not fulfilling its obligations in terms of not establishing official relations with the Taiwanese authorities.
Wang Yi declared to Jake Sullivan that “the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is (the movement demanding) Taiwan independence.”
He added, “The biggest challenge to Sino-American relations is also Taiwan independence, which should be rejected once and for all. This rejection should be translated into concrete policies and actions” on the part of Washington.
A senior American official explained that Washington also urged Beijing to play a “constructive role” with the aim of avoiding escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, by investing in its relations with Iran to call for “calm.”
© 2023 AFP
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2023-10-28 09:21:05
