(Washington) US President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, calling on China to work with the United States to manage their relationship “responsibly” and “to address global challenges together” .
The two great rival powers, who engage in fierce but confident competition, must “manage their relationship responsibly and keep the lines of communication open,” Mr. Biden told his host according to a House press release. -White.
PHOTO BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
US President Joe Biden
“He emphasized that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges,” the text added.
According to a senior American official, Washington notably pressed Beijing to play a “more constructive role” in order to avoid an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, by using its relations with Tehran to call for “calm” .
China’s foreign minister is making a rare visit to Washington, the first by a Chinese foreign minister to the United States since 2018, continuing an intense diplomatic streak meant to help calm a tumultuous relationship and find common ground.
His meeting with President Biden was carefully choreographed, away from the press.
PHOTO SAUL LOEB, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his American counterpart Antony Blinken
Next visit?
In total, he will have had more than “ten” hours of interviews, including with national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday and Friday, exchanges described by the American side as “frank, candid and in-depth”.
Reporting on the meeting with Mr. Biden, which had not been previously announced, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby gave no indication of whether Beijing had responded favorably to an invitation made to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the United States.
“We are working together” for such a visit on the occasion of the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit which is to be held in San Francisco in mid-November, however assured another American official on condition of anonymity, clearly implying that Washington was handing over to Beijing the task of announcing it when the time comes.
The American president has repeatedly expressed his “hope” for a next meeting before the end of the year, while their last face-to-face meeting dates back to the G20 summit in Bali, in November 2022.
Although they have renewed dialogue, mistrust remains between the United States and China, which compete for influence, in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
On Thursday, Wang Yi called for this relationship to be “stabilized” and for the two leading economic powers in the world to be able to return it “to the path of healthy, stable and sustainable development”. He has made no further public statements.
“Encirclement”
The Democratic president makes no secret of it. He intends to engage China in all-out competition “in compliance with international rules” and defend American interests in Asia.
As such, he is asking Congress for a budget of 7.4 billion to stand up to China, militarily and economically.
The United States also highlights the strengthening of its alliances in Asia, with India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Pacific Islands and even Vietnam.
Beijing sees this as a desire to “encircle” China – which Washington denies.
During talks with Wang Yi, the United States expressed concern about Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea, and urged Beijing to resume direct contacts between their respective militaries, which remain suspended.
They also raised respect for human rights in China, as well as the fate of Americans “unjustly detained” in that country, according to American officials.
The issue of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, is particularly sensitive as Beijing accuses the United States of stoking tensions.
In a report released Friday, the International Crisis Group called on Beijing, Washington and Taipei to calm things down, at the risk of a confrontation with “cataclysmic” consequences.
“A Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely in the near future, but the risk of conflict is increasing,” writes its author Amanda Hsiao, for whom “the current trajectory is dangerous.”