Politics

China confirms Xi will attend G20 summit, meet Biden

Beijing, Nov 11 (EFE).- President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 summit to be held next week in Indonesia, where he will meet United States President Joe Biden, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Xi will also hold talks on the summit sidelines with presidents Emmanuel Macron of France, Alberto Fernández of Argentina, and Macky Sall of Senegal.

Xi will also attend the 29th summit of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Bangkok and pay an official visit to Thailand from Nov 17-19, the ministry said.

The White House had already announced the Xi-Biden meeting scheduled for Monday, a day before the G20 summit opens in the Indonesian island resort of Bali.

But China had not confirmed that Xi would attend the summit or meeting with his American counterpart.

On Wednesday, Biden told White House correspondents that he would not make concessions to Xi, reaffirming that he did not seek conflict but competition with Beijing.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have increased in recent months following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in August.

An infuriated Chinese government responded with the largest military exercises around the island in decades and imposed commercial sanctions against Taipei and Pelosi.

Biden said Taiwan, a Washington ally that China considers a rebel province, will “surely” be part of the talks with the Chinese president.

However, Beijing insisted on Thursday that “the Taiwan question is at the heart of China’s core interests and the US needed to “stop fudging, distorting, and hollowing out the one-China principle.”

“China’s US policy is consistent and clear. We are committed to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation with the US. At the same time, we will firmly defend our sovereignty, security and development interests,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters.

“It is important that the US work together with China to properly manage differences, advance mutually beneficial cooperation, avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation, and bring (the) China-US relations back to the right track of sound and steady development.”

Biden and Xi share a long personal relationship.

The two met more than a decade ago when they were vice presidents of their countries and shared multiple trips, meetings, and dinners.

However, it will be their first face-to-face meeting as presidents of the two countries.

They held two virtual meetings last year. EFE

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