On Wednesday, a senior United States official said that The President of the United States, Joe Biden and the Chinese president Xi Jinping are thinking of holding a video conference before the end of 2021. The official said to reporters that there is an “agreement in principle” to arrange for the “virtual bilateral” but on the condition of anonymity.
How Did the Virtual Meeting Plan, On What Grounds?
The national security adviser of the United States, Jake Sullivan met the top diplomat of China Yang Jiechi, in the Swiss city of Zurich, and the meeting continued for six long hours where they decided to focus on the improvement of communication and relationship between both the countries and hence while concluding they announced a virtual meeting. The meeting was held very privately behind the doors at an airport hotel. The interaction was the first face-to-face conversation between the two so far after a strangely open airing of problems and grievances in public in March at Alaska.
The US officials had recommended that the meeting was a spin-off from a call between Biden and Xi on 9th September, before which the top two biggest economies of the world seemed to have been sealed in a dilemma.
What is the Consequence of Jake Sullivan’s Trips?
Jake Sullivan’s tour perpetuates an enhancement in the communication between Washington and Beijing since president Biden claims to be developing “guardrails” for the increasing competition between the two authorities.
With the continuing tension over China’s destructive attitude towards Taiwan, the United States decided to sell off the nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, trade conflicts, and violate human rights in Xinjiang against the Uyghurs.
What has the White House said about the meeting?
The White House said that Sullivan uplifted concerns about China’s activities in South China and human rights and the attitude of Beijing toward Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Xinjiang during the meeting. Also, both Beijing and Washington stated that the conversation in the forum was free from bias, honest and productive. The US side also said that the way of talking and tone was very distinct from Alaska.
Did both president’s plan to meet in person, preferably?
As per reports, the speculations had been that Biden and Xi both might meet personally in Italy during the G20 summit in October, but since China president Xi has not stepped out from China after the significant outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic early last year and hence it is not expected that he would prefer to leave China to attend the summit in Rome or the UN climate conference in Glasgow.
The US official said, “Today’s conversation, broadly speaking, was a more meaningful and substantive engagement than we’ve had to the date below the leader level,” further, he added that Washington wished it would be a “model for future encounters”.
However, the official said it should not be assumed as a melt in relations and said, “What we are trying to achieve is a steady-state between the United States and China where we can compete intensely but manage that competition responsibly.”
The foreign ministry of China revealed in a statement that China’s top diplomat Yang had said to Sullivan that the encounter might damage both the countries and the world.
What did the foreign ministry state?
As per the statement made by the ministry, they said that “The two sides agreed to take action … to strengthen strategic communication, properly manage differences, avoid conflict and confrontation.”
What was the positive effect of Biden’s call with Xi in September?
The call proved to be fruitful for both countries. In September, Biden’s call with Xi ended nearly the gap of seven months of in-person communication between the two leaders. In the meeting, the two addressed the requirement to ensure that their competition with each other should not turn into a clash.
The tension between the US and China has been enhanced recently through the Chinese military flying numbers of sorties near the even-handed island of Taiwan, which is considered a part of its territory by Beijing.
On Tuesday, Biden stated that he had had a word with Xi about Taiwan, and they are ready to comply with the “Taiwan agreement”.
On Wednesday, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken restated the concerns that Beijing was sabotaging regional harmony and firmness by its provocation activities. Blinken said, “We strongly urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion directed at Taiwan.” when he spoke about this concern, he was in Paris to talk with the French officials.
