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US President Joe Biden met China’s foreign minister for talks on Friday as the two countries seek to smooth ties ahead of a possible visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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2 min
Biden told top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi that Washington and Beijing must “manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” the White House said.
With the Israel-Hamas conflict raging in the Middle East, Biden also “underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges,” it added in a statement.
Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, but he has also stood firm on China in the run-up, keeping up a stream of sanctions and backing US allies in disputes with Beijing.
Wang Yi has been on a two-day visit to Washington during which he also met US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
The Chinese foreign minister had been expected to meet Biden too after Blinken met Chinese president Xi in Beijing in June, but it had not previously been confirmed.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had said on Thursday that this week’s talks were a “milestone in that effort to keep the lines of communication open with the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”
Sullivan was going to raise “areas of concern” including China’s behavior in the South China Sea, where it has been forcefully asserting its maritime boundaries.
‘Stabilize’
Wang said after meeting Blinken on Thursday that he wanted to “stabilize US-China relations” and “reduce misunderstanding” after years of tensions.
Acknowledging that differences will still come up, Wang said China would respond “calmly, because we are of the view that what is right and what is wrong is not determined by…
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