Relations may be too tense for Xi-Biden talks

Name: ‘We’re not old friends’: Joe Biden says of Xi Jinping
Uploaded: 2021-06-18T15:59:00.000Z
Duration: 36 s
Description: ‘We’re not old friends’: Joe Biden says of Xi Jinping

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has suggested direct talks may be on the cards

But Chinese observers say Beijing might not be keen and there is little room for compromise on key issues

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will attend the G20 summit in Rome in October, which the White House national security adviser says could be a potential place for talks. Photo: AFP

Amber WangandJun Mai

Published: 11:59pm, 18 Jun 2021Updated: 12:50am, 19 Jun 2021

The tense state of relations between Beijing and Washington is not conducive to their leaders holding talks, Chinese observers said after a suggestion from the White House that a meeting could be on the cards.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday signalled Washington was considering direct talks between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Beijing on Friday would not say if a meeting was being planned.

“We are aware of the reports. We don’t have information to provide now,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.

Chinese observers said while a Xi-Biden meeting could help to control military risks it may be difficult to make progress given the current tensions and following fractious US-China talks in Alaska in March. The world’s two largest economies are at loggerheads over everything from trade and human rights to the South China Sea.

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‘We’re not old friends’: Joe Biden says of Xi Jinping

“I don’t think China is keen for a meeting,” said Lu Xiang, a US affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.