Will the time ever be right for Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to sit down together and talk?
- An explosive meeting between senior US and Chinese officials in Alaska earlier this year highlighted the deep divisions between the two sides
- The earliest opportunity for a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders is at the G20 summit in October, but expectations are low
The United States and China are jostling to secure the upper hand before their leaders meet for a high-stakes summit.
The White House in June signalled an interest in direct talks between the leaders “if the conditions are right and the circumstances are warranted”, while China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that the resumption of high-level dialogue would “depend on whether the US is sincere”.
Sources have told the South China Morning Post that US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will visit Tianjin next week to meet China’s foreign vice-minister Xie Feng, where they will discuss the possibility of a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
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Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring
Sherman’s trip is seen as crucial to making further preparations for future engagement between Biden and Xi, observers said.
The G20 summit in Italy in October would offer Xi and Biden an opportunity to meet on the sidelines, but diplomatic observers are not expecting substantial progress.