Biden says he’s ‘sure’ he will see Chinese President Xi at the G20 meeting in Bali in November if he attends – but won’t commit to a meeting – amid simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington
- The G20 meets in November in Bali, Indonesia
- White House has yet to officially confirm Biden will attend
- Biden was asked if he will meet Xi Jinping at the summit
- ‘If he’s there, I’m sure I’ll see him’
President Joe Biden said he is ‘sure’ he’ll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping if he decides to attend the next G20 Summit in Indonesia – raising prospects for a meeting amid bilateral tensions.
‘If he’s there, I’m sure I’ll see him,’ Biden told reporters at the tail end of a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday.
The White House has yet to officially confirm Biden will attend the summit – which takes place days after the November elections.
Xi will attend the summit meeting at the Bali resort island, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said.
‘If he’s there, I’m sure I’ll see him,’ President Joe Biden said Tuesday when asked if he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming G20 summit
So is Russian President Vladimir Putin – adding even more international tension into the mix.
‘Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come, the Indonesian president told Bloomberg News last month.
Biden and Xi discussed the possibility of a joint meeting during a phone call in late July.
It came amid a deep split in U.S.-China relations, with the two nations clashing on trade, Taiwan, and China’s diplomatic embrace of Russia shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the summit in Bali
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, fighter jets of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conduct a joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022
Flares light targets on a mountainside during Taiwan’s Southern armored brigade live-fire exercises in Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, on September 6, 2022
The two men discussed a possible meeting amid tensions over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s then-planned visit to Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be part of China.
Her visit infuriated Beijing, which undertook a series of military exercises that the U.S. called escalatory, risky and counter-productive.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday would not comment when asked about the status of tariffs that the U.S. slapped on China in a trade war during the Trump Administration.
Biden has batted away a series of questions about what he will do on the tariffs.