US, China agree to collaborate for Biden-Xi summit next month

Following hours of negotiations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and senior U.S. diplomats in Washington, U.S. officials announced on Friday that the U.S. and China had decided to collaborate towards the anticipated summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month.

Veteran diplomat Wang Yi met with Biden for an hour during the first Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Washington since 2018. The White House characterised the meetings as a “good opportunity” to maintain open lines of communication between the two geopolitical foes with significant policy differences.

U.S. officials reported that Wang spent nine hours in total in meetings over two days with U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, characterising these discussions as “candid and in-depth”.

Washington’s primary concerns were brought up by Biden’s senior aides: the necessity of reestablishing military-to-military relations between the two nations; Beijing’s conduct in the East and South China Seas; Taiwan; human rights; the flow of precursors to fentanyl; and the instances of American detainees in China, according to U.S. officials.

Additionally, Blinken and Wang had “frank exchanges” regarding the developing crisis in the Middle East.

The main area that seemed to be making progress was towards the anticipated gathering of Biden and Xi in San Francisco, California, next month, which is part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.

“We are making preparations for such a meeting,” said one of the senior administration officials briefing reporters on condition of anonymity. “Obviously, Chinese leaders often confirm publicly much closer to a trip, so I will leave it to the Chinese side to figure out if and when they make that announcement,” the official said.

According to a brief statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang told Biden that the goal of his visit was to help “stem the decline” in U.S.-China ties “with an eye on San Francisco,” without providing any details.

Wang’s talks with Blinken and Sullivan were recorded in readouts from the foreign ministry, which stated that “both sides agreed to work together to achieve a meeting between the two heads of state in San Francisco.”

“China attaches importance to the U.S. side’s hopes of stabilizing and improving U.S. ties with China,” Wang was quoted as saying in his meeting with Biden.

The Biden administration believes that in order to keep relations from devolving into violence, direct leader-level contact with Xi is crucial to moderating tensions.

“A big part of a potential meeting would be the two leaders sitting down together and having those conversations on strategic intent,” the U.S. official said.

On Thursday, Wang told Blinken that the two countries have disagreements and need “in-depth” and “comprehensive” dialogue to reduce misunderstandings and stabilize ties. “Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive,” Wang said.

Wang’s three-day visit comes after a flurry of recent bilateral diplomatic engagements, mostly at the request of the United States, meant to salvage the fast deteriorating ties that had been strained since the U.S. downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon early in the year.

However, some in Washington have questioned if Beijing was given an advantage by a series of mostly unreplicated travels to Beijing over the past six months by Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

New bilateral economic and commercial working groups were established as a result of Yellen and Raimondo’s travels, which some fear will divert attention from and possibly postpone penalties, export bans, and other measures meant to increase American competition with China.

Increased diplomacy, according to U.S. officials, does not imply a relaxation of policy.

(With agency inputs)