On Monday evening, US President Joe Biden will attend a virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which the two leaders will discuss their differences.
In response to a question on whether the two leaders will discuss border tensions with India at their meeting on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told news agency ANI that the US president would “absolutely discuss security-related issues.”
“The relationship has been tense in recent months, as Biden has made clear that he views Beijing’s activities on a number of fronts as troubling. China’s human rights violations against ethnic minorities in northwest China, maritime concerns, Taiwan, and the South China Sea have all been criticised by the President. “Joe Biden will not hold back concerns the US has with China,” Jen Psaki said in response.
Psaki told a press conference on Friday that one of the goals of this meeting is to talk about areas where “there are major concerns and disagreements.”
#WATCH |There'll be range of topics, somewhere we've concern, somewhere we can work together, certainly security related. I'll leave it to Sunday preview calls: WH Press Secy to ANI on if concerns on border tensions with India will be raised in virtual meet of US-China Presidents pic.twitter.com/jZtgJOZeeC
— ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2021
This will be the second meeting between the two leaders since February. It comes after the United States and China pledged last week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, to strengthen their collaboration and accelerate steps to reduce climate-damaging emissions.
“First and foremost, we’re engaging with members of Congress and on technical advisory committees to provide technical help on legislation now pending in Congress. In addition, we have taken unilateral measures such as visa restrictions, global Magnitsky and financial sanctions, export controls, import restrictions, the release of a business advisory, and rallying the G7 to commit to action to ensure that forced labour is not used in all global supply chains “she stated
According to Psaki, the call is unlikely to result in any big resolutions. Psaki stated, “I wouldn’t put the expectation…that this is going to have huge deliverables or consequences.”
Biden and Xi have a long history of face-to-face interactions dating back to when they were vice presidents of their respective nations. When asked on Friday if their personal relationship would affect Biden’s ability to persuade China to make reforms it has previously refused to make, Psaki said their history would allow Biden to “be quite forthright.”
When White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi met in Zurich last month for negotiations, they agreed to host the Biden-Xi virtual summit before the end of the year, but the two sides had not selected a date. According to the White House, the virtual meeting was planned after Biden expressed interest in seeing Xi again during a phone discussion with the Chinese leader in September.
