Biden and Xi from China discuss competition management, avoiding conflicts in the call

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by telephone on Thursday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for about 90 minutes Thursday, a senior U.S. official said, with the two leaders arguing the need to avoid competition between the two largest economies in the world. deviate into conflict.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been their lowest point in decades and it was only the second call among leaders since Biden took office in January.

A White House statement said the two leaders had “a broad strategic debate,” which included “areas where our interests converge and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge.”

The conversation focused on economic issues, climate change and COIVD-19, the senior US official said.

Chinese state media said the conversation was “sincere” and “in-depth,” adding that President Xi said U.S. policy on China imposes great difficulties on relations between the two.

The Chinese report added that the two sides agreed to maintain frequent contact and ask the work teams to increase communications.

One-off high-level meetings since Xi and Biden’s first call in February have made little progress on a range of issues, from climate change to human rights and transparency about the origins of COVID-19. Read more

Over the following months, the two sides have clashed almost constantly, often resorting to vitriolic public attacks, imposing sanctions on officials and criticizing the other for failing to meet its international obligations.

“President Biden stressed the enduring U.S. interest in peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world, and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure that competition does not become in conflict, “the statement said.

The Biden administration, concerned about a chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, has noted that ending America’s longest war will give U.S. political and military leaders space to focus on more urgent threats. derived from the rapid rise of China. Read more

But Beijing was quick to take advantage of the U.S. failure in Afghanistan to try to portray the United States as a fickle partner, and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last month that Washington should not expect China’s cooperation in this or other matters if you also tried. to “contain and suppress” China. Read more

Report by David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina and Eric Beech; Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore

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