HANOI, Sept 10 (Portal) – US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had the highest-level talks with China’s leaders in months, adding that Beijing’s economic swings would not result in an incursion into Taiwan.
Biden said he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s No. 2 Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the annual G20 summit in New Delhi. The talks were the highest-level meeting between the two powers in nearly a decade since Biden and Xi spoke at the G20 summit in Indonesia last year.
Li, who took office in March, attended the gathering of world leaders in place of Xi. The two leaders were not expected to hold talks at the G20, but unforeseen encounters at summits are the order of the day.
“My team, my staff are still meeting with the people of President Xi and his cabinet,” Biden told reporters. “I met with his person #2 in India today.”
He added: “We talked about stability” and about the southern hemisphere. “It wasn’t confrontational at all.”
The White House said Sunday Biden met with a Chinese leader at the summit.
The two superpowers have tried to unfreeze frosty relations this year after a row erupted over a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over US territory amid fears of an economic slowdown in Beijing.
At a news conference in Vietnam, Biden described the US economy as the “strongest” in the world. He told reporters that China’s growth is slowing due to a weak global economy and Chinese policies, but did not provide details on the policy measures.
Biden called China’s economic situation a “crisis”, citing problems in the real estate sector and high youth unemployment.
“One of the key economic tenets of his plan isn’t working at all right now,” Biden said of Xi, without elaborating. “I’m not happy about it, but it’s not working.”
U.S. President Joe Biden attends the “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment” event on the day of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, September 9, 2023. Portal/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool acquires license rights
Biden added, “He has his hands full at the moment.”
The Democratic president faces a re-election campaign in 2024 in which his own handling of the economy and inflation has become a key concern for voters.
The US economy grew 2.1% on an annualized basis in the most recent quarter. Central bankers have raised interest rates sharply to bring inflation back to target levels.
August trade data showed that both China’s exports and imports eased their declines, which joined other indicators to signal a possible stabilization of the economic downturn as policymakers try to stimulate demand and stave off deflation.
Li said China should meet its growth target of around 5% for 2023, but some analysts believe a worsening housing slump, weak consumer spending and slowing credit growth could lead to slower growth.
OPEN DIALOGUE
Biden has sought to keep communications with China open to lower tensions in international tensions, including around Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims.
“I don’t think this will prompt China to invade Taiwan,” Biden said of the country’s economic woes. “In fact, the opposite probably doesn’t have the same capacity as it did before.”
He described the United States as a Pacific power with no intention of withdrawing from the region.
Biden also said that recent moves by Chinese officials to curb the use of US-developed Apple iPhones (AAPL.O) by state employees amounted to an attempt to change “some rules of the game” in commerce.
“It’s close to my heart to fix the relationship,” he said.
Reporting by Nandita Bose in Hanoi and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Adaptation by Lisa Shumaker, Heather Timmons and Cynthia Osterman
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