Following hours of negotiations in Washington between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and senior US diplomats, US officials stated Friday (Oct 27) that the US and China had decided to collaborate toward a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi watches as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not shown) meets with him at the State Department in Washington. (Source: The Reuters/ Asia one)
Chinese Foreign Minister Will Work With US Officials for the Summit
Wang Yi, the first Chinese Foreign Minister to visit Washington since 2018, visited Biden for an hour, which the White House called a “good opportunity” to keep communication open between the two geopolitical foes with substantial policy disagreements. US officials claimed Wang’s two-day sessions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan lasted nine hours and were “candid and in-depth”.
US officials said Biden’s senior advisers underlined Washington’s main concerns: restoring military-to-military lines, Beijing’s actions in the East and South China Sea, Taiwan, human rights, fentanyl precursors, and Americans jailed in China. Blinken and Wang had “frank exchanges” over the Middle East crisis. The anticipated Biden-Xi encounter at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month in San Francisco appeared to be gaining steam.
“We are making preparations for such a meeting,” a senior administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity. According to a source, it is known that Chinese leaders frequently affirm publicly much closer to a trip, so they will simply leave it up to the Chinese side to choose whether or not an official statement is made. Direct leader-level interaction with Xi was crucial to the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent a crisis in relations, which were already strained by fierce economic competition and disputes on many subjects. According to the insider, a large component of a hypothetical meeting would involve the two leaders sitting down together and discussing strategic objectives.
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US-China Resolving Issues
Wang told Blinken on Thursday that the two countries differ and need “in-depth” and “comprehensive” communication to resolve issues. He stated that we need not just resume discourse, but that it should be in-depth. Wang’s three-day visit follows a flurry of bilateral diplomatic engagements in recent months, mostly at US request, to salvage deteriorating ties early in the year after the US downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
However, some in Washington have questioned if Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s mainly unreceived visits to Beijing over the past six months favored Beijing. The tours by Yellen and Raimondo led to new bilateral economic and commercial working groups, which critics believe will distract from and possibly delay sanctions, export curbs, and other steps to boost US rivalry with China. US officials said enhanced diplomacy does not mean policy relaxation.
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