Vice President Han Zheng stated that recent high-level conversations seem to have progressed the China-US relationship before a scheduled meeting next week between Xi Jinping and President Biden.
Although new “expectations” have been set, tensions over the past year between the US and China have remained strained, with Biden’s flip-flop stance on Taiwan a notable point of conflict. (RELATED: ‘Unacceptable To Have In Our Community’: Locals Express Dismay At China-Linked Solar Plant In Their Town)
“[The sitdowns] have sent out positive signals and raised the expectations of the international community on the improvement of China-US relations,” Vice President Han Zheng stated at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
“A stable and sound China-US relationship is the common expectation of all sectors in our two countries and the international community as a whole,” Zheng continued. “We’re ready to strengthen communication and dialogue with the US at all levels.
Conversations around Biden’s Taiwan policy are reportedly going to be a challenge for the president and Xi, according to previous State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Rick Waters.(RELATED: Newsom Comes Back From China, Immediately Touts Mass Child Surveillance Program)
“The challenge for the [US] president going into the meetings in San Francisco is going to be this: if you look carefully at what the Chinese say about Biden and about his Taiwan policy, they don’t doubt his intentions,” Waters told SCMP.
China additionally increased tension within the US this year when a spy balloon was spotted floating over Montana in February. Although the President was briefed about the issue during the time, he declined to shoot down the balloon until it was over water, claiming that there were safety concerns with hitting it over land, according to The Hill.
A meeting between the two leaders was announced by the White House last month, scheduling Biden and Xi to speak to each other at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, according to ABC News.
Biden Meeting With China’s Xi Jinping Next Month, White House Sayshttps://t.co/bsWOCgduHe pic.twitter.com/UbeAnKkYcT
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 31, 2023
Republicans later called out the president for not immediately taking action, with Republican Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke calling it “embarrassing.”
“We should have shot it down. It’s embarrassing. Because the US faces clear and present danger with the Chinese and we can’t shoot down a balloon over rural Montana,” Zinke stated.
Although Democrat officials like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have recently met with Xi, Biden has not sat down with the Chinese president since November 2022, according to the White House statements.