Biden and Xi ‘ready for NOVEMBER showdown’: US and Chinese presidents will have first face-to-face meeting in three years after Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan and tensions have escalated over military exercises
- Chinese officials are reportedly preparing for a November meeting in Asia
- Joe Biden spoke to Xi Jinping on the phone in late July
- US officials said they ended the call by agreeing to meet in person
- Since then, relations have soured with Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
- Beijing responded by launching war games around the autonomous island
The first meeting between President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping could take place in November on the sidelines of an international summit in Asia, according to people familiar with the planning.
Details emerged Thursday amid intense tensions between the two countries following House Speaker Nancy Pelosis’ visit to Taiwan last week.
Beijing responded with bellicose rhetoric and live fire drills around the autonomous island.
Now Chinese officials are reportedly planning for Xi to visit Southeast Asia on his first international trip in three years, where he would have his first face-to-face meeting with Biden since the American president took office.
Officials involved in the preparations told the Wall Street Journal that the 69-year-old Chinese leader will attend his party congress in the fall – where he is expected to break precedent and claim a third term as prime minister.
Chinese officials are reportedly working on plans for a face-to-face meeting between Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden on the sidelines of Southeast Asia summits in November
A billboard in Taipei welcomed Speaker Pelosi to the island as the Taiwanese showed their support
Pelosi’s visit sparked Chinese war games around the autonomous island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory
He will then attend a Group of 20 Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on November 15-16.
From there he will travel two days later to a summit of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
As part of the planning, officials are making preparations to meet Biden on the sidelines of one of the summits — though those plans could change, they said.
US officials said they could not comment on the preparations of Chinese officials.
But a White House official echoed what was said after the two leaders spoke by phone late last month that officials were working towards meeting in person.
China’s Foreign Ministry told The Wall Street Journal, “China supports Indonesia and Thailand as hosts of the two conferences and stands ready to work with all parties to promote the conference and achieve positive results.”
Xi has not left China since January 2020, when he paid a state visit to Burma. Days later, Chinese health authorities declared a public health emergency as COVID took hold.
President Joe Biden said he was “concerned” but “not concerned” about China’s military drills in Taiwan as he exited his beach house in Delaware Monday morning
During that time, China has been increasing its claims on Taiwan, and in recent weeks fears have grown that it may be on the verge of an invasion.
Pelosi arrived in Taiwan last week after days of speculation over whether she would make the trip and potentially fuel tensions with Beijing, which views Taiwan as Chinese territory eventually reunited with the mainland.
It made her the highest-ranking US elected official to visit Taiwan in decades.
In response, Beijing deployed warplanes, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan in what analysts say was practice for a blockade or invasion of the island.
This week, Biden said he was “concerned” but “not concerned” about China’s military drills.
And Biden has avoided criticizing Pelosi.
“That was her decision,” he said when asked by reporters about the trip as he left his beach house in Delaware for a day trip to Kentucky Monday morning.
Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell accused China of overreacting and using it as an excuse to try to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait
“China has overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented,” he told reporters, describing it as an “intensified pressure campaign” against Taiwan.
