A screen programs Chinese President Xi Jinping going to a virtual conference with U.S. President Joe Biden by means of video link, at a dining establishment in Beijing, China November 16, 2021.
Tingshu Wang|Reuters
WASHINGTON– President Joe Biden’s upcoming call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping will concentrate on locations of possible cooperation in between the U.S. and China, the White House stated Wednesday, even as diplomatic relations in between the 2 countries are filled with stress over Russia, copyright disagreements and, even, espionage.
“There is an awful lot in the bilateral relationship between the United States and China for these two leaders to talk about,” stated National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, keeping in mind that the call would occur “in the coming days” and would be Biden and Xi’s fifth leader-to-leader discussion.
As increasing stress in between Washington and Beijing controlled news headings, Kirby firmly insisted that there was an intrinsic worth in holding a call, even if Biden and Xi did not deal with any of their myriad problems of difference.
“That’s the key thing: The president wants to make sure the lines of communication with President Xi remain open, because they need to,” stated Kirby.
“There’s issues where we can cooperate with China on, and then obviously there are issues where there’s friction and tension,” he informed press reporters at the White House day-to-day press rundown.
He kept in mind stress over China’s treatment of Taiwan, China’s “aggressive and coercive behavior in the Indo-Pacific outside of Taiwan,” financial problems and China’s hesitation to condemn Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine as possible sticking points.
‘ I would anticipate all of these things to be part and parcel of this discussion,” Kirby stated.
The previous Defense Department spokesperson likewise looked for to minimize a fresh source of bilateral stress: A possible U.S. congressional journey to Taiwan, which supposedly might be led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif
Pelosi has actually neither validated nor rejected the commonly reported journey, and it is not on the main schedule of her journey to Asia in early August– up until now just Japan, Singapore and Indonesia are on the list.
Pressed by press reporters about a possible drop in Taiwan, Pelosi stated Wednesday that she does not discuss her itinerary since doing so positions a security danger.
Nonetheless, Beijing has actually been increasingly important of even the possibility of a Pelosi check out to Taiwan, arguing that it would signify implied U.S. assistance for the self-reliance motion inside Taiwan, which Beijing thinks about an existential risk to Chinese sovereignty.
“Should the U.S. side demand making the check out, China will act highly to resolutely react to it and take countermeasures,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated just recently.
Kirby dismissed Beijing’s unclear hazards, stating they were much ado about a journey that isn’t even main yet.
“The rhetoric coming out of the Chinese side here on a journey that hasn’t been chosen or revealed is unhelpful and unneeded,” he stated.
