Joe Biden with Xi Jinping
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands and agreed to calm tensions at a high-stakes encounter in California on Wednesday.
Before shaking hands on the front steps, Biden greeted Xi as he came out of a black vehicle at the magnificent Filoli country home in the California foothills near San Francisco.
The two presidents then went inside for painstakingly staged closed-door talks on subjects such as Taiwan, sanctions, and trade, all of which have strained relations between the world’s leading economies.
Biden began his remarks by urging that tensions not veer into conflict.
Xi said, “Turning their backs on each other is not an option for the superpowers”.
The White House said Biden would hold a solo press conference at 4:15 p.m. (0015 GMT Thursday) to discuss the summit, which was held on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco.
Protesters lined part of Biden’s route from San Francisco, many holding pro-Xi placards and red and yellow Chinese flags hanging on security fences.
US officials have downplayed the possibility of big breakthroughs, while a deal to restore a hotline between the Chinese and US forces is on the table, as is collaboration to curb the supply of the opioid fentanyl.
The major purpose of the negotiations, which are taking place in the setting of the famous 1980s US soap opera ‘Dynasty’, according to US officials, is to restore predictability to the relationship.
Biden and Xi met in person in November 2022 in Bali, and ties soured after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February of this year.
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