Joe Biden and Xi Jinping used their first in-person meeting as leaders to signal a desire to improve US-China ties after relations between the two powers plunged to a multi-decade low, reports the Financial Times.
With Taiwan tensions hanging over the meeting, the leaders agreed that senior officials would “maintain communication” on a range of global issues, including climate change, economic stability and food security, a White House readout of the meeting said. The US president later said that Antony Blinken, secretary of state, would visit China for further talks.
At a news conference after the meeting, which lasted three hours, Biden said he told Xi that US policy on Taiwan had not changed “at all” and that Washington remained committed to a peaceful resolution of tensions. But the White House said the president had raised concerns in private with Xi about China’s “increasingly aggressive” actions towards Taiwan.