(Bloomberg) -- US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to speak again in the coming weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.
Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi a day earlier for more than five hours to help lay the groundwork for a call between the leaders. While Biden said last month he would speak with Xi “soon,” Blinken suggested it was getting closer.
“With regard to President Xi and President Biden, our expectation is that they will have an opportunity to speak in the weeks ahead,” Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bangkok, Thailand.
The US has stepped up criticism of China for its diplomatic support of Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has contributed to surging inflation across the globe. The White House is considering rolling back some punitive tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration, but Biden said Friday that a review was underway and he hadn’t yet made a decision.
During a meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken on Saturday said he told Wang that China wasn’t neutral on the Ukraine war because there’s no such thing as being neutral when there is a clear aggressor. He cited Xi’s recent call with Putin as evidence of Beijing’s ongoing support of Moscow.
The exchanges were exceptionally candid and neither side held back, but they were professional in tone despite the candor, according to a senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing closed-door talks.
Blinken told Wang that the US views the China relationship as largely competitive, and described what that competition means -- and doesn’t mean -- from the American perspective, the official said. Wang shared his thoughts on Blinken’s speech in late May laying out the Biden administration’s China policy, according to the US account.
Constructive Talks
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement that the talks were constructive and may help avoid “miscalculation,” while adding that US-Chinese ties aren’t “out of the difficulties” caused by former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Chinese statement also warned the US against supporting Taiwanese independence, advised the US not to form “exclusive groupings” against China and said Washington shouldn’t meddle in China’s internal affairs, including on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
On Sunday, Blinken also said the US was closely watching political developments in Sri Lanka, and condemned any violence against protesters. He also said the US was looking at ways to pressure the regime in Myanmar, while noting he hasn’t seen any positive developments in the country since a coup last year.
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