WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden expressed confidence Monday after his first face-to-face presidential summit with China’s Xi Jinping at the G20 in Bali. After the meeting, he declared that there might not be a new cold war with China.
“I absolutely believe there need not be a new cold war,” Biden told reporters after the talks.
He also expressed his belief that Beijing has no intention of attacking Taiwan.
“I do not think there is any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan,” Biden added.
The US president also noted that China has an obligation to try to make it clear to North Korea that it should not engage in long-range missile tests.
“I’ve made it clear to [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] that China has an obligation to try to make it clear to North Korea that they shouldn’t engage in long-range tests”, he added.
The two presidents spoke openly about priorities and intentions on a wide range of issues, the White House said in a report on the meeting. According to Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make a trip to China to follow up the Biden-Xi discussions.
The White House also said Biden expressed concern about China’s “coercive” actions against Taiwan — as well as China’s human rights record, particularly in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
“[Biden] raised US objections to the PRC’s coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity,” the readout added.
The meeting marked the first face-to-face summit for Xi and Biden since the start of his term, although they had previously spoken by phone and via video link.
Their talks came amid strained relations between Washington and Beijing, with further tensions rising earlier this year over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.