The White House is making plans for a face-to-face meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in San Francisco next month as the two nations seek to stabilize troubled relations, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Ties between the world’s two largest economies have been strained due to a number of issues including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of spying, human rights issues and trade tariffs, among others.
The newspaper, which cited senior unidentified US officials, quoted one of them as saying the possibility of a meeting was “pretty firm.”
Photo: Reuters
“We’re beginning the process” of planning, the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not comment specifically on the newspaper report. A spokesperson at the embassy said in an e-mailed statement that the two nations remained in communication and needed to expand “good faith” cooperation.
The White House did not have an immediate comment.
The meeting would follow other high-level engagements between the two nations that have seen visits by US officials to China, such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen in July and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in August.
Blinken also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng (韓正) in New York and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in Malta.
Biden and Xi’s last meeting was on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia in November last year, which was their first in-person meeting since Biden became president. They previously had five exchanges by telephone and videoconference after Biden took office.
China’s top security agency hinted last month that any meeting between Xi and Biden would depend on the US “showing sufficient sincerity.”
San Francisco is to host an APEC summit next month that Xi might attend.
Xi last month skipped a G20 summit in New Delhi that Biden attended.
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
RSS