Biden and Xi to engage in coming weeks: White House official

US President Joe Biden is expected to have the opportunity to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.

The last time Biden had talks with Xi was in March via video call, weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

Speaking to reporters in Germany, where Group of Seven leaders are meeting and proposing measures to counter Beijing’s growing economic influence, Sullivan said he would not put a ‘particular timetable’ on the expected engagement. between the two leaders, but noted that it “isn’t going to be immediately after the G-7.”

He also hailed the “growing convergence” between the G-7 and NATO, which will also hold a summit later this week, on the challenge posed by China as well as the “urgent” need for alignment between major democracies. world market to deal with China’s so-called non-market economic practices and human rights issues.

“I think you can expect the G-7 statement to talk about all of that, and then I think you can expect NATO’s strategic concept to also talk in an unprecedented way about the challenge posed by China,” Sullivan said, referring to documents to be released at the two summits.

The three-day G-7 summit in southern Germany ends on Tuesday, followed by a two-day NATO summit in Spain starting Wednesday. All G-7 countries except Japan are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Japan was invited to the summit of the transatlantic alliance as one of the four Asia-Pacific partners.

The previous Strategic Concept, a guiding document for the alliance over a period of around a decade, was adopted in 2010. The new one will mention China for the first time, reflecting concerns about Beijing’s military buildup, its ties with Russia and perceived attempts to undermine the rules-based international order.

While the G-7 summit focused heavily on managing Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy, leaders on Sunday announced the official launch of an infrastructure project to the developing world in an effort to counter China’s Belt and Road. Initiative.

The Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership should offer a ‘positive alternative’ to infrastructure models that sell ‘debt traps’, US officials have said, a veiled criticism of the Chinese initiative known for its record indebtedness of developing countries and for poor environmental and labor standards.

But Sullivan reiterated that the United States does not expect competition with China to turn confrontational or conflictual, nor does it seek to divide the world into rival blocs and pick and choose countries.

“We want to stand for a set of principles, rules of conduct that are fair, understood and accepted by all. And we want to make sure that we work with like-minded partners to hold China accountable to upholding those rules,” the official said. official.