US President Joe Biden says he hopes to meet in person with Chinese leader Xi Jinping again in the coming months.
“I’m hoping that over the next several months I’ll be meeting with Xi again, and talking about legitimate differences we have but also how there are areas to get along,” Biden said on Saturday during a visit to Philadelphia.
Biden’s remarks came shortly before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in China on Sunday to meet with Xi during a visit to Beijing, his first as the top US diplomat.
Blinken’s Beijing visit was originally planned for February.
However, Blinken cancelled the trip at short notice after a suspected Chinese spy balloon drifted over the United States.
Biden, who ordered US fighter jets to shoot down the balloon, downplayed the incident on Saturday.
The president said he does not believe that top Chinese leaders knew where the balloon was or how it was outfitted.
“I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional,” Biden said.
Relations between the governments of the world’s two largest economies are strained over a number of issues.
The United States has pressured China over its tacit support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s threats against the self-governing island of Taiwan.
Ongoing trade disputes between the two countries have also caused rising tensions.
Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have both viewed China as US’s greatest geopolitical challenge.
China, in turn, has accused the US of hegemonic ambitions.
— AAP
