“We think Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and reduce disruptions in diplomatic relations with China, and he’s also looking to buy some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interests,” Biden can be heard saying at a meeting with the leaders of Japan, Australia and India, unaware that the microphone was on.
“China continues to act aggressively, testing this across the region, and that’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Strait,” Biden added.
The National Security Council, in response to a CNN request for comment, said it does not comment on what the president inadvertently said while the microphone was on.
While US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted earlier Saturday during a briefing with reporters that “China is not the focus of the Quad,” White House readouts of Biden’s meetings with other leaders suggest China’s “increasingly aggressive” tactics in the South China Sea will play a prominent role in the weekend’s summit.
“The two leaders discussed their own diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea,” the White House said in a statement about Biden’s in-person meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The White House repeated the same sentence verbatim in its statement about Biden’s meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
National Security Adviser John Kirby said Wednesday he expected the leaders to discuss “the challenges that remain in the region due to the People’s Republic of China’s aggressive military action, for example, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait.”
Biden elevated the Quad to the level of leaders early in his term, and it has been a central pillar of his Indo-Pacific strategy.
Source: CNN
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2024-09-22 15:57:07