Progress has been made in talks with China, US President Joe Biden said on X, formerly Twitter, after his four-hour meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Woodside, south of San Francisco, California.
The two leaders have agreed to resume military contacts. This step is “critically important,” Biden said, because without exchanges, accidents and misunderstandings are possible. China cut off military communications when then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
According to the accompanying journalists, a meeting is now on the agenda between American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart. Operational discussions will also take place between senior figures within the military leadership of both countries.
Taiwan is still considered part of China by the Chinese government. Xi assured Biden during their meeting that China has no intention of taking military action against Taiwan. But according to a senior US official, Xi described circumstances under which China could take military action. Biden urged Xi to respect Taiwan’s upcoming elections in January 2024.
The US and China will also cooperate in anti-drug policies. China has pledged to crack down on the production of ingredients for the synthetic drug fentanyl, which is claiming many lives in the US.
End of sanctions
Xi wants the US to end sanctions imposed as a result of, among other things, the oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province. According to the Chinese leader, export and investment restrictions are against China’s interests. He also wants his country to have the space to make progress in science and technology. Biden and Xi agreed that the countries will cooperate in the field of AI, or artificial intelligence, although no details have yet been announced.
A few hours after the meeting, Biden again called the Chinese leader a “dictator.” After being asked by a CNN journalist whether Biden would still use that word, Biden said, “Well, he is.” Biden added: “He is a dictator in the sense that he runs a communist country.” The Chinese government is ‘very different from ours’, the US president said. Earlier in the day, Xi said during the meeting with Biden that he believes that communism is being discussed too negatively in the US.
After the US shot down a Chinese balloon over American territory in February this year, Biden used the word “dictator” to describe Xi. China insists it was a drifting weather balloon, while the US says the balloon was intended for espionage purposes.
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