WASHINGTON DC: US President Joe Biden met China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Friday (local time) as the two countries seek to smooth ties ahead of a possible visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and called for working together to address global challenges.
The White House said Biden “emphasized that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” and he “underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges”.
The encounter with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was the latest in a series of high-level contacts between the two countries as they explore the possibility of stabilizing an increasingly tense relationship at a time of conflict in Ukraine and Israel. Biden and Wang met in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were also present, according to administration spokesman John Kirby. Kirby said Biden viewed the meeting as “a positive development, and a good opportunity to keep the conversation going”. However, Beijing has yet to confirm if Xi will travel to San Francisco for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.
Earlier, citing the impact of US-China relations on world peace and development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing is ready to work with Washington, to “properly manage differences”, contribute to each other's progress and push for common prosperity, Chinese state media agency Xinhua reported. Xi stated that China is willing to work with the US based on three principles of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation”. “As two major countries in the world, whether China and the United States can find a right path of state-to-state interactions bears on world peace and development, and the future of mankind,” Jinping said.
He added, “Based on the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, China is willing to work with the US side to advance mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences, and make joint efforts to tackle global challenges, contribute to each other's progress, and push for common prosperity so as to deliver benefits to both countries and the whole world.”
In a congratulatory message to the annual Gala Dinner of the National Committee on US-China Relations, Xi applauded the committee's longstanding dedication to the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various areas, Xinhua reported. Wang has come to Washington at a time when tensions between the two countries remain high, including over US export controls on advanced technology and China's more assertive actions in the East and South China seas. (ANI)
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