Biden, China's Xi will discuss communication, competition at APEC summit
By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House said on Monday President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss strengthening communication and managing competition when they meet on the sidelines of the at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this week.
The face-to-face meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday will be the first between Biden and Xi in a year, with the high-stakes diplomacy aimed at curbing tensions between the two superpowers.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Biden believes there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy to manage the complex relationship.
«We anticipate that the leaders will discuss some of the most fundamental elements of the U.S.-PRC bilateral relationship, including the continued importance of strengthening open lines of communication and managing competition responsibly so that it does not veer into conflict,» Sullivan said, referring to the People's Republic of China.
«The way we achieve that is through intense diplomacy. That's how we clear up misperceptions and avoid surprises.»
Sullivan said Biden would go into the summit «on a solid footing,» having positioned the United States to be able to compete effectively at home and abroad and with «the strongest recovery and lowest inflation of any leading economy.»
He said Washington is looking for specific outcomes from the meeting and hoped to see progress in reestablishing military-to military ties with China and in combating the trade in fentanyl that has become a scourge in the United States.
China cut off military-to-military communications with the United States last year after a visit to Taiwan, a democratically governed island
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