US says no plans to announce reopening of consulates during Joe Biden-Xi Jinping summit
- Politico reported the two leaders are likely to announce the reopening of consulates closed last year
- A spokesman for the National Security Council said ‘no such thing is even being considered or discussed’
“The meeting is part of our ongoing efforts to responsibly manage the competition between our countries, not about seeking specific deliverables,” Dean Lieberman, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said in a statement.
It was issued after a report in Politico that consulate reopenings were likely to be announced, a move that would be one of the biggest steps yet to repair fractured ties between the global powers. Politico’s report cited sources it did not identify.
The US is also seeking to make progress on trade and climate issues, as well as start a bilateral nuclear weapons dialogue – something Beijing has resisted.
The US flatly denied any such pending announcement. “This is false. Reporting on reopening consulates is inaccurate. No such thing is even being considered or discussed,” the NSC spokesman said.
“In advance of the meeting, we’ve been discussing a number of agenda items, and I can assure you that reopening consulates has not been part of that discussion.”