Chinese President Xi Jinping.Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Chinese officials are planning a November trip to Southeast Asia for Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, people familiar with the matter said. If this trip takes place, it will be Xi Jinping’s first international trip in nearly three years, and the first face-to-face meeting between the two since Biden took office as president of the United States.
Chinese officials prepare for Xi’s trip, a sign that the 69-year-old Xi is confident in the five-yearly 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China this fall. Officials involved in the preparations noted that the Chinese leader is expected to attend the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 15-16 after the congress.
After the G20 summit, Xi is expected to travel to Bangkok, Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit, Chinese officials said, as China prepares for “a side meeting of U.S.-China leaders at one of the summits.” White House Indo-Pacific affairs coordinator Kurt Campbell confirmed that Biden and Xi discussed the possibility of a face-to-face meeting in a recent phone call and assigned a team to follow up. But he didn’t want to talk about the specific time and place.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that as early as 4 days before the US House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Xi Jinping emphasized in a phone call with Biden that the Beijing authorities have no intention of going to war with the United States over the Taiwan issue. Xi Jinping told Biden also This is not the time for a full-blown crisis to try to stabilize U.S.-China relations. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter in China, said Xi Jinping was frustrated by the failure to prevent Pelosi from visiting Taiwan after his diplomatic mediation with Beijing in recent months.