Biden denies China’s Xi declined to meet him in person
WASHINGTON : US President Joe Biden denied on Tuesday a report that his Chinese counterpart last week turned down an offer for a face-to-face meeting.
The Financial Times cited multiple people briefed on a 90-minute call between the two last week as saying, Mr Xi Jinping did not take Mr Biden up on the offer and instead insisted that Washington adopt a less strident tone towards Beijing.
"It is not true," Mr Biden said when asked by reporters if he was disappointed that Mr Xi did not want to meet him.
Mr Biden's national security adviser, Mr Jake Sullivan, said earlier on Tuesday that the report was "not an accurate portrayal of the call. Period.".
A source who was among those briefed on the call confirmed the report was accurate.
"Xi apparently intimated the tone and atmosphere of the relationship needed to be improved first," the source told Reuters.
The Financial Times quoted one of its sources as saying Mr Biden had floated the summit as one of several possibilities for follow-on engagement with Mr Xi, and he had not expected an immediate response.
It cited one US official as saying that while Mr Xi did not engage with the idea of a summit, the White House believed that was partly due to concerns about Covid-19.
Chinese state media said Mr Xi had told Mr Biden that US policy on China imposed "serious difficulties" on relations but added that both sides agreed to maintain frequent contact and ask working-level teams to step up communications.
The call between the two was their first in seven months and they discussed the need to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. - REUTERS
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