Biden and Xi meet in person for the first time as presidents

The US’ and China’s leaders greeted each other with smiles and a handshake at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. While serious differences remain between the two sides, cooperation, which was in both sides’ interests, would be sought in the future. 

US President, Joe Biden, has objected to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” toward Taiwan and raised human rights concerns about Beijing’s conduct in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, according to the White House.

It added after the roughly three-hour meeting, Biden told Xi  the U.S would “continue to compete vigorously” with China, but that “competition should not veer into conflict.”

Support was reiterated for America’s longstanding “One China” policy, whereby it only officially recognises the People’s Republic of China and not the Taiwanese government. Despite China’s recent sabre rattling, Biden does not believe that “there’s any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan.”

The two leaders agreed that “a nuclear war should never be fought” and can’t be won, “and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.” That was a reference to Russian officials’ thinly-veiled threats to use atomic weapons as its nearly nine-month invasion of Ukraine has faltered.

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