President Biden will meet with President Xi Jinping of China on Saturday during a global summit in Peru, White House officials said Wednesday. The one-on-one meeting will be Mr. Biden’s final opportunity to challenge the Chinese leader directly on hacking, threats against Taiwan, human rights violations and support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It will be the first time the two leaders have met in person since a summit between them in California a year ago. That meeting was described by both sides as the beginning of improved relations after deep tensions following Mr. Biden’s decision in early 2023 to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon that drifted over the United States.
Administration officials said they expected Mr. Biden to confront Mr. Xi on issues of disagreement, but to also welcome the resumption of direct communications between the two governments, including the militaries. Mr. Biden has sought to stabilize what he has called the most consequential relationship in the world and has encouraged competition, not conflict.
But the meeting comes as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office again, promising a much more aggressive approach to China that includes vast tariffs on Chinese goods headed for the American marketplace. That has left foreign policy analysts to predict a much more volatile period of tension between the two leaders.
Mr. Biden will be in Peru for the annual meeting of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. He will meet with Mr. Xi before heading to a brief stop in the Amazon and then the Group of 20 summit of world leaders in Rio de Janeiro.
White House officials said on Tuesday that Mr. Biden would discuss areas of cooperation that have been successful over the past four years with the Chinese leader.
Those include working together to decrease the flow of fentanyl into the United States and discussions about how to jointly address the benefits and threats of artificial intelligence as it develops rapidly around the world, according to one official who was authorized to speak to reporters on condition of anonymity.
But the official said that Mr. Biden would also discuss differences between the countries and how to manage them. At the top of that list, the official said, are reports by U.S. intelligence that China is supporting Russia’s defense industrial base. The United States has imposed hundreds of sanctions on China to prevent that support, and Mr. Biden will raise the issue with Mr. Xi, the official said.
It is not clear how much Mr. Biden will seek to discuss Mr. Trump’s return with his Chinese counterpart. The U.S. official declined several times to comment on how Mr. Trump might try to reverse Mr. Biden’s approach to China. But the official said it will soon be up to the next president and his team to grapple with the series of complex issues related to that country.
The official said there is a “tough, complicated relationship” between the United States and China and that Mr. Trump will have to try to find an effective way to manage it.
The post Biden to Meet With China’s Leader During Summit This Weekend appeared first on New York Times.
