Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual meeting as early as next week, according to a Reuters source who was briefed on the matter. However, the White House and Chinese Embassy have yet to confirm.
Last week the two sides agreed for the US and Chinese leaders to engage in direct talks at some near-term point by the end of the year, based on dialogue between US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart, top diplomat Yang Jiechi, in Zurich.
The White House had earlier described the meeting of the two delegations in Switzerland a “more meaningful and substantive” discussion than previous engagements, a reference to the testy summit in Anchorage last March.
Yang Jiechi was days ago reported as saying, “China attaches importance to Biden’s positive remarks recently and noted that the US said it doesn’t intend to contain China or engage in a new cold war.”
And on Tuesday Xi himself wrote a letter to the New York-based National Committee on US-China Relations wherein he urged for Beijing and Washington work together on a basis of “mutual respect”.
“Cooperation is the only right choice,” he said, according to the contents of the letter:
“Right now, China-U.S. relations are at a critical historical juncture,” Xi said, according to a letter addressed to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a New York-based non-profit.
“Both countries will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” Xi said in the letter. “Cooperation is the only right choice.”
“Following the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, China stands ready to work with the United States to enhance exchanges and cooperation across the board,” the letter added.
China is ready to properly manage differences with the United States, President Xi Jinping has said, ahead of a virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden https://t.co/EkOBl8DC1u pic.twitter.com/mv95V43rFI
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 10, 2021
Xi laid out the he’d like to work with Biden to “address regional and international issues as well as global challenges.” In the meantime, he expressed hope that the two countries can “properly manage differences” in order to “bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of sound and steady development.”
Meanwhile…
This is a song that is going viral on the internet called “Go to Taiwan in 2035.” I think it shows that the Chinese people have a psychological expectation that the reunification should be realized by 2035. pic.twitter.com/e2su6RKlea
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) November 10, 2021