By Oyintari Ben
According to a White House official on Sunday, US President Joe Biden will make it clear that his nation does not seek confrontation during his one-on-one meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Indonesia.
This week, the two presidents will have their first in-person meeting since Biden took office when they get together in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan predicted that the meeting would last “a few hours.”
In Sullivan’s words to reporters, “The president sees the United States and China as being engaged in a stiff competition, but that competition should not tip over into conflict or confrontation.” It must be handled appropriately, but there are also areas where cooperation is possible.
The American president just met with the leaders of Southeast Asia and East Asia in Cambodia and is now travelling to the G20 summit in Indonesia.
According to Sullivan on Air Force One, Biden’s visit to Cambodia demonstrated the “massive demand signal” for US engagement.
He continued by saying that Biden believes the results of the US midterm elections, in which the Democratic Party crushed Republican expectations of a “red wave,” will give him a strong position on the global stage.
