US President Joe Biden will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on November 14 in Bali, Indonesia on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the White House announced Thursday, at a time of high tension between the two superpowers.
The two leaders, meeting face-to-face for the first time since Biden’s election, will discuss how "drive responsibly" the rivalry between their respective countries as they try to "work together where (your) interests coincide"White House spokeswoman Karine Jean Pierre said in a statement.
Biden and Xi, who have already spoken several times by phone and video conference, will also address a number of issues. "international and regional"he stated, but without explicitly mentioning the fate of Taiwan.
"What I want to do with it, when we talk to each other, is to determine the type of red lines" that must be respected, said the Democratic leader this Wednesday at a press conference in Washington.
"The doctrine on Taiwan has not changed at all"Biden repeated, avoiding rephrasing previous statements that had rankled Beijing, according to which the US military would defend Taiwan if the island were attacked.
Xi won a third term in the Chinese Communist Party Congress last month, cementing his status as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Tse-Ttung.
That factor has raised concerns in Taiwan and in Washington that China will redouble its efforts to annex the island.
Biden frequently dwells on his long relationship with the Chinese leader, which began when he was Barack Obama’s vice president.
The last conversation between the two leaders dates back to the end of July. Since then, the tension between Washington and Beijing has increased.
White House teams had been working for weeks to organize a face-to-face meeting in Bali.
Taiwan has been one of the biggest sticking points, but so has each other’s position against Russia and the invasion of Ukraine, as well as technological and trade rivalries, as the Americans try to revive their own high-tech industry to reduce its dependence on China.