President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are planning their first in-person meeting since Biden took office in Southeast Asia come November, the Wall Street Journal first reported Friday.
The trip will be Xi’s first foreign trip in three years and comes as tension between Washington and Beijing mounts following increased Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.
Geopolitical relations between the two superpowers have been strained for years following the COVID-19 pandemic, a trade war and increased pressure from the West placed on Beijing to address gross human rights abuses.
TAIWAN REJECTS CHINA’S ‘ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS’ PLAN FOR THE ISLAND
According to the report, the leaders would meet at the Group of 20 in Indonesia in mid-November.
National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell did not confirm any details on the supposed meet up but said, “I can confirm that the two leaders, when they spoke last discussed a possible face to face meeting during their recent call and agreed to have their teams follow up to sort out the specifics.”
“We don’t have anything further in terms of details on time or location,” he added.
Check back on this developing story.
