China-US ‘red lines’ in focus ahead of expected Xi-Biden meet

BEIJING, China – The United States and China laid out early markers this week ahead of a meeting expected next week between their presidents on the sidelines of a summit of the G20 grouping of nations in Indonesia.

The United States should work together with China to avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday, when asked about reports of the meeting.

For his part, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was not willing to make any fundamental concessions when he meets with counterpart Xi Jinping.

He wanted both leaders to lay out what their “red lines” were and resolve areas of conflict, including issues such as self-governed Taiwan, he added.

Beijing and Washington have been working on an in-person meeting between the two leaders since Biden took office in January 2021, US officials have said previously, even as they have talked on the telephone and met online.

No date or time has yet been made public for next week’s expected meeting at the summit on the resort island of Bali.

“China attaches importance to the U.S. proposal to hold a meeting between the two heads of state in Bali,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a regular briefing in the Chinese capital on Thursday.

“Currently, the two sides are maintaining communication in this regard.”

Tensions between the United States and China has run high over Taiwan, particularly after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit this year to the self-governing island claimed by China.

Taiwan remains the “core of China’s core interests”, Zhao said.

“We are willing to work with the US side to realise mutual respect, peaceful co-existence, win-win cooperation, while at the same time resolutely defending our own sovereignty, security and development interests,” he added. – Rappler.com