Biden, Xi set to meet Nov. 15 on sidelines of APEC summit
President Joe Biden will sit down with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Nov. 15, senior administration officials announced, the first conversation between the two leaders in a year.
The long-anticipated meeting is intended to stabilize ties between the countries, affording Biden and Xi the opportunity to discuss in-person the issues affecting the relationship as well as broader global concerns. U.S. officials have downplayed expectations for any clear breakthroughs and stressed that the focus is on clearing up misperceptions in the bilateral relationship.
Biden is expected to raise the need for open lines of communication, including in the military realm, and discuss issues involving artificial intelligence, fentanyl and detained Americans in China, according to the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
The countries are expected to announce a resumption of military-tomilitary communications after Beijing cut off that channel following thenspeaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in August 2022, according to people familiar with the plans. The U.S. also hopes to reach an agreement to get China’s help in cracking down on the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. objectives.
The get-together of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies comes on the sidelines of next week’s Asia-pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The U.S. is hosting the gathering for the first time since 2011.
The senior administration officials did not share where the Biden-xi meeting would take place, saying only that it would be in the San Francisco Bay area.
Biden and Xi have not spoken since their last encounter at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, 2022. That meeting lasted about three-and-a-half hours and appeared to clear the way for a less confrontational relationship.
The post-bali glow did not last long. Relations deteriorated to a new low early this year after an alleged Chinese spy balloon traversed the continental U.S. and was ultimately shot down by the U.S. military. The balloon episode could come up in the broader context of military communications and the need for clear parameters of engagement, one of the officials said.
In recent months, both leaders have dispatched top officials to each other’s capitals for talks and to prepare for the meeting.
Xi last set foot on U.S. soil in 2017 when he met with then-president Donald Trump at his Mar-alago resort.
Next week’s encounter comes against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and Russia’s war against Ukraine. U.S. officials believe China is helping Moscow replenish its war machine through exports of dual-use technologies, but that Beijing is more hesitant to support Iran and its proxies against Israel. Iran-backed Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union.
The U.S. has asked Beijing to pass messages to Tehran and help avoid the war between Israel and Hamas from escalating in the region. Biden will again underscore that message in his meeting with Xi, the officials said.