Asia-Pacific

Biden Expects to Meet Xi Later This Year Amid Tensions

The Yomiuri Shimbun
From left, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, Md., on Friday

By Yuko Mukai / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

15:36 JST, August 20, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in autumn.

“I expect and hope to follow up on our conversation on Bali this fall. That’s my expectation,” Biden said during a press conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol following three-way talks at Camp David in Md.

Biden met Xi at the Group of 20 summit on the Indonesian island in November.

A U.S.-China summit could take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting Biden will host in San Francisco in November.

Responding to questions about China, Biden said: “This summit was not about China. That was not the purpose of the meeting.

“But … China obviously came up. Not to say we don’t share concerns about the economic coercion or heightened tensions caused by China,” he added.

The United States is continuing high-level dialogue with China to ease tensions. The two leaders could potentially also meet in New Delhi on Sept. 9 or 10 on the sidelines of a G20 summit.