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Bali hi: Biden and Xi set to meet on sidelines of G20

US President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next week’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, officials say.

After weeks of negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and US President Joe Biden forged a tentative agreement on raising the debt ceiling late on Saturday (Photo: ABC)

After weeks of negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and US President Joe Biden forged a tentative agreement on raising the debt ceiling late on Saturday (Photo: ABC)

Biden hopes to limit the deterioration of ties with China when he meets Xi  but will be honest about concerns over Taiwan and human rights, a senior administration official says.

“The president believes it is critical to build a floor for the relationship and ensure that there are rules of the road that bound our competition,” the official told reporters in a call on the meeting.

The White House said Biden will hold talks on Monday with Xi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) countries summit in Indonesia, their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president in January 2021.

Biden and Xi last met in person during the Obama administration.

US-Chinese ties have been especially strained since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan, the self-governed democratic island that China claims as its territory.

China is the world’s second largest economy after the US.

The US is looking to have stable relations with China despite tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade and a host of other issues.

The senior administration official said there would be no joint statement from a meeting at which there are no expectations for specific agreements.

“I expect the president will be honest about a number of our concerns, including PRC (People’s Republic of China) activity that threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as well as our longstanding concerns about human rights violations,” the official said.

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Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea would likely be discussed, the official said.

Biden said on Wednesday he was unwilling to make any fundamental concessions when he meets Xi and that he wanted both leaders to lay out their “red lines” and resolve areas of conflict, including on Taiwan.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the administration would brief Taiwan on the results of Biden’s meeting with Xi, aiming to make Taipei feel “secure and comfortable” about US support.

Sullivan said Washington remained concerned about the possibility of North Korea resuming nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017.

The day before he meets Xi in Bali, Biden will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol on the sidelines of regional meetings in Cambodia to discuss how to stem North Korea’s nuclear program.

US officials have accused both China and Russia of enabling Pyongyang’s missile and bomb programs by failing to properly enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions intended to impede them.

Washington believes China and Russia have leverage to persuade North Korea not to resume nuclear bomb testing.

“This is an area where China and the United States have had a history of working together … there is a track record of being able to work together and so I think the president will approach the conversation in that spirit,” the official briefing reporters said.

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