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Biden, Xi expected to hold virtual summit on Monday

The US president and his Chinese counterpart talked by phone twice since Biden moved into the White House.

Published: Fri 12 Nov 2021, 1:05 AM

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  • AFP

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AFP

US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a hotly awaited virtual summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday, US media reported.

Both CNN and Politico, citing unnamed sources, said the meeting was tentatively scheduled for Monday.

Relations between the world’s two largest economies have deteriorated in recent weeks, in particular over Taiwan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that the two presidents, who have not met in person since Biden took office in January, will hold virtual talks “soon”.

Biden and Xi have talked by phone twice since the veteran Democrat moved into the White House. The pair also met extensively when Biden was serving as vice-president to Barack Obama, and Xi was vice-president to Hu Jintao.

Biden had hoped to meet Xi at a recent Group of 20 summit in Rome, but the Chinese leader has not travelled since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and instead agreed to virtual talks by the end of the year.

The US president has largely kept the tougher approach on Beijing of his predecessor Donald Trump, with both administrations considering a rising China to be the top challenge of the 21st century.

On Thursday, Xi warned against a return to Cold War-era divisions in the Asia-Pacific, in remarks to a virtual business conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by New Zealand.

“Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” he said.

“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era.”



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