Joe Biden, Xi Jinping meet amid race for global supremacy: report
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San Francisco: US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, news agency AFP reported.
The two leaders are meeting for the first time in several months, which is significant in the wake of their long standoff, wrangling over international supremacy.
As the Chinese leader stepped out of a black limousine, both leaders shook hands before they headed for closed-door talks.
The US- China relations remain entangled in mutual distrust and fear as the geopolitical power equations keep changing, especially since the Ukraine war.
Biden is reported to have remarked at the meeting that tensions should ‘not veer into conflict.’
To which the Chinese leader responded saying that ‘turning their back on reach other is not an option.’
Aside from agreeing to restoring hotline between both countries’ militaries, the US officials reportedly were not optimistic about more breakthroughs in talks.
Beijing severed military hotline responding to former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022.
It is also reported that US will press for China’s cooperation to curb Chinese exports of ingredients for the opioid drug, fentanyl, to the US.
Since Biden and Xi met last time in November 2022 in Bali, relations suffered a major setback after US accused China of sending spy balloon in February this year.
The latest meeting comes against the backdrop of turmoil in Ukraine and Gaza alongside the two super powers are in a race for global supremacy.
The most sensitive of issues that led to tension between them is China’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.
China does not want the US to be in the way and has assertively conducted military drills near Taiwan, causing tension.
‘We do not want to see the tensions across the Taiwan Strait evolve into any kind of conflict’, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying.