President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in the Bay Area on Wednesday.
President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to sit for a highly anticipated meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in the Bay Area on Wednesday — a meeting that officials hope will ease tensions in the midst of wars raging in Israel and Ukraine.
The meeting is to take place in San Francisco and will be a setting for « intense diplomacy, » a senior administration official said.
The White House says Biden and Xi are expected to discuss the relationship between the United States and China, including the importance of maintaining « open lines of communication. »
A senior administration official said the two leaders will also discuss « managing competition responsibly » along with a range of regional, global and transnational issues, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, and the growing conflicts in the Middle East.
« There will be a conversation on North Korea about some of our concerns with respect to the relationship with Russia in Ukraine, » a senior official said. « I think with respect to the Middle East, I believe that the president will underscore our desire for China to make clear in its burgeoning relationship with Iran that it is essential that Iran not seek to escalate or spread violence in the Middle East, and to warn, quite clearly, that if Iran undertakes provocative actions anywhere, that the United States is prepared to respond and respond promptly. »
The two are also expected to discuss additional « potentially contentious » topics, including election interference, with Biden planning to warn Xi about potential election influence operations.
The meeting this week will be the second in-person meeting between Biden and Xi since the beginning of the Biden administration in January 2021, but it will be the « seventh interaction, » the official said.
