Photographer: Feng Li / AFP / GettyImages
Photographer: Feng Li / AFP / GettyImages
Beijing is looking for a meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month, if the first high-level talks between the US and China in Alaska, which started on Thursday, are productive, according to people familiar with the situation.
The Biden-Xi meeting, as planned by Chinese authorities, would be organized around Earth Day on April 22 to show that the two leaders are focused on combating climate change, one of the people said. Biden is already set to bring together global leaders that day to pressure the world for greater ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The prospect of the meeting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
When asked whether diplomats will discuss an Xi-Biden meeting during their Alaskan negotiations and whether a meeting of the two leaders is planned, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that no deal had been made. Subsequently, he added that the two countries will discuss a number of topics.
Both the US and China have lowered expectations for the Alaskan negotiations, which will take place on Thursday and Friday, local time. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will represent the United States, while Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Politburo member Yang Jiechi will speak for China.
China’s expectations for the meeting are not “very high,” said Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States, in comments reported on state-run Central China television. It will be a success if you start an “honest, constructive and rational” dialogue, he added.
The Chinese delegation arrived in Anchorage on Thursday, state-run China Central Television reported. Blinken was due to leave Seoul at the end of the night.
Countries discussed how to describe the negotiations, with the US challenging China’s characterization of the meeting as a “high-level strategic dialogue”. Blinken said on Wednesday that it would be an opportunity “to share directly with our Chinese colleagues the concerns that United States has, that our allies and partners have about some of the things that China is doing. “
China has urged the Biden administration to remove tariffs and sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as measures to restrict sales of key technology to Chinese companies. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said last week that the United States “is not a reliable country to be trusted” after government officials tightened restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co.
China has announced that trials will begin on Friday for two Canadians accused of violating national security laws that were arrested shortly after the arrest in December 2018 of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. China often associates the cases with those of Meng, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman telling reporters last year that suspending extradition “could open space for resolving the situation of the two Canadians”.
‘Wrong message’
The United States and China have discussed issues such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang in calls since Biden took office, which Beijing insisted were “internal” issues. But American officials have also sought to emphasize areas of potential cooperation, including climate change and nuclear non-proliferation.
In Seoul, Blinken noticed that Biden’s approach to North Korea was still under review and emphasized China’s “clear self-interest” in putting its Cold War neighbor and ally back on the table.
On Thursday, the official China news agency Xinhua published a comments saying that a new US sanctions measure sent the “wrong message” ahead of the negotiations. The State Department added more than a dozen Chinese officials to a list of people that banks should avoid on Wednesday, warning global financial institutions.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday that the Alaska meeting was not held to set expectations for regular meetings between the two sides.
“I wouldn’t see it as one in a series,” she said. “This is a meeting that our national security adviser and secretary of state are attending, and I would not plan it further at this time.”
– With the help of Philip Glamann