AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping started their first meeting in a year in San Francisco with the goal of improving the relationship between the two countries and smoothing tensions.
Biden said the world wants from them a “candid exchange.”
“I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication,” Biden said at the beginning of the meeting, surrounded by members of his cabinet. “We have to ensure that competition doesn’t veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly.”
Xi, sitting at the other side of the table, also with members of his administration, said he believes that the relationship between China and the U.S. keeps moving forward, despite not always being smooth in the past 50 years.
“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” Xi said. “Conflicts and confrontation have unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Biden and Xi met for the last time in Bali, in November 2022. Since then, tensions between the U.S. and China have increased over issues including Taiwan, trade, the use of artificial intelligence and the alleged use of a spy balloon by China
“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” Xi said.
The talks are expected to last three hours on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in California.
