American President Joe Biden mentioned on Friday as “a possibility” a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, scheduled for mid-November in San Francisco.
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“Such a meeting has not been arranged, but it is a possibility,” Joe Biden said at a White House press conference, after US media reported that the two leaders planned to meet to ease tensions between Beijing and Washington.
In recent months, Beijing and Washington have renewed dialogue with a succession of visits by senior American officials to Beijing, including the head of diplomacy Antony Blinken.
But bilateral relations remain tense, with trade disputes, Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and the question of the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan remaining stumbling blocks.
In August, Joe Biden indicated that he still planned to meet President Xi during the Apec summit. Beijing has not confirmed Mr. Xi’s participation in this summit.
“I intend and hope to continue our Bali conversation this fall. This is what I expect,” Mr. Biden said, referring to his meeting with Xi Jinping in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, during a G20 summit.
“China is a ticking time bomb in many ways,” he said earlier that month, citing its unemployment rate and aging workforce.
These difficulties arouse concern because “when bad people have problems, they do bad things,” added the American president.
He also assured that he was seeking to maintain “a rational relationship with China”. “I don’t wish China any harm, but I’m observing,” he said.
In June, Joe Biden offended Beijing by asserting that Xi Jinping belonged to the category of “dictators”, a comment seen as a “provocation” by Chinese diplomacy.