Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting at G20 sets stage for improved communications, says White House official
- The talks paved the way for more in-person engagements and renewed efforts on challenges like climate change, according to a US deputy national security adviser
- In-person discussions between the countries’ senior officials in finance, trade, climate change and defence followed Xi and Biden’s meeting
US President Joe Biden’s recent meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was “constructive” in stabilising bilateral relations and laying the groundwork for “more robust” in-person interactions between Washington and Beijing in 2023, a White House official said on Tuesday.
The two leaders managed to “put a floor under the US-China … relationship”, one of the key goals for the meeting on the sidelines of this month’s G20 summit in Indonesia, said Michael Pyle, the US deputy national security adviser for international economics.
“It was a constructive engagement between the two presidents,” said Pyle, who served as Washington’s G20 “sherpa”. “There were objectives around finding a path forward constructively that were also achieved.”
He said the meeting between Biden and Xi not only provided an important opportunity to “forcefully” speak about American values and interests but also paved the way for further in-person engagements and renewed efforts on shared challenges like climate change.
Pyle’s remarks came as relations between Washington and Beijing remained near their lowest point in decades, with disagreements fuelled by issues including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the technology war, though there are increasing signs of recent efforts by both sides to mend ties.