White House considering talks between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the two leaders are due to ‘take stock of where we are in the relationship’

Remarks come after Biden finishes a European tour intent on assembling a united front against Beijing

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. Photos: AFP

Published: 2:41am, 18 Jun 2021Updated: 6:14am, 18 Jun 2021

The White House has signalled that direct talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping may be on the way, a potential first meeting between the two heads of state as Washington’s relationship with Beijing continues to spiral downward.

“The notion that President Biden will engage in the coming month with President Xi in some way to take stock of where we are in the relationship, and to ensure that we have that kind of direct communication that we found valuable with President Putin yesterday, we’re very much committed to that,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday.

“It’s now just a question of when and how,” he said.

“The notion that President Biden will engage in the coming month with President Xi in some way to take stock of where we are in the relationship … we’re very much committed to that,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. Photo: AP

The comments come as the world’s two largest economies continue to feud over a long list of grievances.

Since taking office, Biden has tried to corral US allies to condemn and punish Beijing for its suspected human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, its crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong, and its sabre-rattling in the South China Sea.

Chinese officials have lashed out at the US in response, accusing Washington of meddling in China’s internal affairs.

Shortly after Sullivan made his statement, though, the US State Department told reporters that the suggestion of a meeting was not a sign of any breakthrough but was merely the reflection of Biden’s commitment to diplomacy.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Sullivan “was speaking to the proposition that the president has put forward, that there’s no substitute for personal diplomacy”.

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