U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on Wednesday before a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco. The meeting is supposed to lead to a reduction of tensions in the in what many see as the world’s most dangerous rivalry.
The leaders of the world’s two largest economies have met only once in person since Biden’s January 2021 inauguration and Xi had not visited the United States since 2017 when Donald Trump was president.
The White House says the aim of the summit, in the San Francisco Bay Area, is to boost communication to prevent an intense rivalry from veering into conflict.
The meeting is expected to cover global issues from the conflict in the Middle East to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s ties with Russia, Taiwan, human rights, artificial intelligence, as well as “fair” trade and economic relations.
Biden is expected to tell Xi that the U.S. remains committed to its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, in the face of Chinese pressure against democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own, and in the South and East China Seas.
He will also express a specific commitment to the security of the Philippines, U.S. officials said.
