Biden says may meet with Xi Jinping next month, no formal plans yet
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In July, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a meeting between Biden and Xi is likely to happen at some point in the coming months.
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President Joe Biden speaks about the September jobs report in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, in Washington (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Joe Biden on Friday made mention of a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, although formal discussions for such a meeting have not been arranged as of yet.
"There is no such meeting set up, but it is a possibility," Biden told reporters at the White House, in response to a query about the possibility of talks between them in November.
In July, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a meeting between Biden and Xi is likely to happen at some point in the coming months.
The last time Biden and Xi met in person was in November 2022 at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. The two agreed to maintain open lines of communication in an effort to improve the strained US-China relationship.
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How likely is the meeting to happen?
US-China relations have been strained due to a series of provocative actions spearheaded by the US against China.
Diplomatic offenses included multiple visits by US lawmakers to Taiwan, the promotion of an alleged 'China threat' in the South China Sea, and more broadly the spread of anti-Chinese sentiment across the globe.
The US has been actively pressuring countries across the world to refrain from purchasing semiconductors and other advanced technologies from Chinese firms in China, instead advocating for the domestic manufacture of microchips via the promotion of the CHIPS Act.
The US says products made by its companies are being utilized in Chinese military and surveillance programs, prompting the government to offer incentives, including grants and tax credits, for chip makers who start up their operations in the US.
In the last BRICS summit which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, China issued a number of demands in its BRICS declaration, aiming to undermine Western hegemony at the expense of the multipolar world.
One of the demands that were voiced by China in its declaration was to reform international institutions, in particular the World Bank and the IMF, which are both largely dominated by the US.
It also called for a "comprehensive reform" of the UN, which Beijing regards as biased and Western-centered.
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