China’s Top Diplomat Says No ‘Smooth Sailing’ for Biden–Xi Meeting

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi (C) during a bilateral meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington, on Oct. 27, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

China’s top diplomat said on Oct. 29 that the road to setting up a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping in the coming month wouldn’t be “smooth sailing.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during a discussion with the U.S. strategic community in Washington on Oct. 29, which came after his series of meetings with President Biden and his top aides.

The Biden administration has sought a meeting between President Biden and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco in November.

While the CCP has yet to confirm its decision, Mr. Wang had agreed during his “candid” discussion with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Oct. 27 to work together toward that meeting, according to the White House.

Speaking to the U.S. strategic community on Oct. 29, Mr. Wang said the path toward the summit “will not be smooth sailing,” and they can’t rely on “autopilot” to make it happen.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a news conference at the state council information office in Beijing on Sept. 26, 2023. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images)

Mr. Wang said there are still unresolved issues between the United States and China but they believe it would be “beneficial and necessary” to maintain a dialogue, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

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Washington and Beijing must implement the consensus reached between their leaders during their last meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022, where they discussed Taiwan issues, trade tensions, climate change, and food security, he said.

Tense US–China Relations

Ties between China and the United States, the world’s largest economies, have reached historic lows under the two leaders. U.S. officials see a meeting between President Biden and Mr. Xi as an essential tool for warming the fraught relations between the two powers.

The two countries are at odds on issues such as human rights, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Washington has also expressed disappointment about the CCP’s stance on the Russia–Ukraine war, as well as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

During a sit-down with Mr. Wang on Oct. 27, President Biden emphasized the need for both sides to “manage competition in the relationship responsibly” and “maintain open lines of communication.”

Mr. Wang also met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Oct. 26, and they had “frank exchanges” on the escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi prior to meetings at the State Department in Washington on Oct. 26, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Senior U.S. administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on Oct. 28, said that Mr. Blinken had pressed the need to resume military-to-military channels.

“We both have a profound stake in avoiding miscommunication and miscalculation,” one of the officials told reporters.

Mr. Blinken also raised concerns about the Chinese military’s actions in the South China Sea, citing an “unsafe intercept” of a U.S. bomber by a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea on Oct. 24 and the recent collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed waters.

“I think the events even just in the past week on China’s unsafe intercept [of] a U.S. aircraft just underscored the importance of being able to talk to each other at working levels as well as at senior levels,” the official said.

The CCP, which rules China as a single-party state, cut off cross-military communications used to de-escalate conflict between the two countries last year and has systematically sought to insulate its economy from U.S. power.

Andrew Thornebrooke and Reuters contributed to this report.