China’s Xi Jinping calls for ‘stable’ US ties in brief meeting with Kamala Harris on Apec sidelines

Name: Xi hopes to work with Biden to bring China-US relations back to ‘healthy, stable development’
Uploaded: 2022-11-19T05:43:49.000Z
Duration: 2 min 59 s
Description: Xi hopes to work with Biden to bring China-US relations back to ‘healthy, stable development’

Talks with Joe Biden in Bali had been ‘constructive’ and will guide bilateral ties, Xi tells US vice-president as he calls for mutual understanding

The US does not seek conflict or confrontation with China, Harris asserts, urging that lines of communication stay open

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Vice-President Kamala Harris reinforced US President Joe Biden’s message to his Chinese counterpart on the need for responsible handling of the bilateral rivalry. Photo: AP

Dewey Simin Bangkok

Published: 1:43pm, 19 Nov 2022Updated: 3:28pm, 19 Nov 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke briefly on Saturday with US Vice-President Kamala Harris on the sidelines of the Apec forum in Bangkok, just days after his closely watched meeting with American counterpart Joe Biden in Bali.

Xi told Harris the meeting with Biden – the first in-person sit-down between the pair as heads of state – had been “constructive”, and that it would guide the next phase of US-China relations, roiled in recent months over a range of issues.

He also said he hoped both sides would enhance mutual understanding and reduce misjudgment, and push for the return of “healthy and stable” bilateral ties, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Harris, meanwhile, reiterated that the US did not seek conflict or confrontation with China and that the two countries should keep lines of communication open, according to CCTV.

The US vice-president reinforced Biden’s message to the Chinese leader that “we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries,” Agence France-Presse reported, quoting a US official who requested anonymity.

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Xi hopes to work with Biden to bring China-US relations back to ‘healthy, stable development’

Observers earlier suggested that the language used by the superpowers following the three-hour Xi-Biden meeting, held on the margins of the Group of 20 Summit in the Indonesian resort island, signalled a mutual desire to turn down the temperature after tensions escalated in recent months over issues including Taiwan and tech access.

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