2023-10-28 01:06:10
The president of United States, Joe Bidenreceived Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi by surprise at the White House on Friday (10/27/2023), which represents the highest-ranking meeting that the president has had with a Chinese official in the last year.
The meeting, which was not on Biden’s agenda, emulates the one that also took the United States Secretary of State by surprise, Antony Blinkenwith the president of ChinaXi Jinping, on his trip to Beijing last June.
According to a brief statement from the White House, Biden told Wang that “the United States and China have to manage their rivalry and their relationship responsibly, with open lines of communication” and “work together to address global challenges.”
Likewise, he conveyed his condolences for the death of the former Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, who died of a heart attack at the age of 68.
The meeting lasted regarding an hour and Biden expressed his desire to meet once more with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as John Kirby, one of the White House spokespersons, revealed in a subsequent telephone press conference.
Biden received the Chinese foreign minister when Wang visited the White House to meet with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, following holding two days of meetings with Blinken at the State Department.
Washington has been trying to smooth things over with Beijing for months, a need that now becomes even more urgent given the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Specifically, the United States wants China to use its influence over Iran to deter the Persian country from entering the war and avoid a regional conflict.
The meetings in Washington between Blinken and Wang have also served to prepare for a possible meeting between Biden and Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), which will be held in mid-November in San Francisco.
gs (efe, reuters)
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