US National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden will “at some point” meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as the world’s two biggest economies work to resolve strained bilateral ties.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Sullivan said: “We will, I hope, soon see American officials engaging at senior levels with their Chinese counterparts over the coming months to continue that work. And then, at some point, we will see President Biden and President Xi come back together again.
“There is nothing inconsistent with, on the one hand, competing vigorously in important domains on economics and technology, and also ensuring that that competition does not veer into conflict or confrontation. That is the firm conviction of President Biden.”
The NSA’s remarks came just hours after Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu accused the US of trying to destabilise the Indo-Pacific region after warships from the two countries were involved in a near collision.
In an address to the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, Li blamed Washington of “provoking bloc confrontation for self-interest” and said the US and its allies were making up rules to assert dominance over the region, reports CNN.
Any “severe confrontation” between the US and China would be “an unbearable disaster for the world”, the Defence Minister added.
On Saturday, the US had accused a Chinese warship of cutting in front of an American vessel that was taking part in a joint exercise with the Canadian navy in the Taiwan Strait, forcing the American vessel to slow down to avoid a collision.
The incident marked the second time in two weeks that Chinese military personnel have engaged in aggressive maneuvers in the vicinity of US military personnel near China’s border.
Last week, a Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” during an intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea.
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