G20 Summit: What Will Be On Agenda Of Xi, Biden Meet?

US President Joe Biden will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Indonesia on 14 November. This would be their first in-person meeting after Biden becomes President of the United States in January 2021. The two leaders have talked on the phone up to five times.

The meeting takes place amid the two countries' fractious relationship. However, according to the official, the meeting will cover a variety of topics.

First, both leaders to discuss their respective perspectives on the relationship and President Biden to lay out ideas on how to manage the competition responsibly.

Second, the White House official said that President Biden to be forthright about a number of his concerns, including Chinese activity that threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as well as long-standing concerns about human rights violations and, more broadly, our allies’ and partners’ concerns about China's harmful economic practices.

Third, Biden will discuss areas where the two countries can and should collaborate, as well as some ways to move those efforts forward. 

And, fourth, discussions also may include a variety of regional and global issues, including Russia's conflict in Ukraine and recent North Korea's missile launches. 

Biden has centred his foreign policy on countering China's economic and national security threats. At a press conference, a White House spokesperson told reporters that the US will not make any concessions to Beijing, but that wants to know how far China can go in the relationship.

On Wednesday, Biden said that he seeks competition rather than conflict with China and expected to discuss their national interests and the red line.

I have met him several times and told him that I prefer competition over conflict. So, when we talk, I want to lay out what each of our red lines is, understand what he believes to be in China's critical national interests, what I know to be in the United States' critical interests and determine whether or not they conflict with one another.

“If they do, how do we resolve the situation and work it out? The Taiwan doctrine has remained unchanged since the beginning of time. So, I am sure we will talk about a variety of other issues, including fair trade and relationships with other countries in the region,” Biden added.

In response to another question, Biden said that he does not believe China has much respect for Russia or its President Vladimir Putin.

I don't believe they see it as a specific alliance. In fact, they've been keeping a safe distance from each other. It remains to be seen whether Xi Jinping has decided or reversed the initial assessment that he wanted China to have the world's most powerful military as well as the largest economy, he said.

But he's a long way away from either. I think it's important to talk about nuclear weapons and their locations, as well as access to them, Biden added.