Biden, Xi pledge to avoid conflict at virtual summit

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US President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping began their virtual summit on Monday with both stressing their responsibility to the rest of the world to avoid conflict.</p>
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Speaking from the White House to Xi on a television screen, Biden said, "It seems to me that our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended. Just simple, straightforward competition," Biden said.</p>
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Referring to Biden as an "old friend," Xi speaking through an interpreter said: "As the world's two largest economies and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation."</p>
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Biden promised to address areas of concern, including human rights and other issues in the Indo-Pacific region, adding that "you and I have never been that formal with one another."</p>
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The talks, which were initiated by Biden and began at 7:46 p.m. on Monday (0046 GMT Tuesday).</p>
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The initial moments of the two leaders' dialogue were open to a select group of reporters in the White House after which the two heads of state and top officials went into a closed-door session that is expected to go on for several hours.</p>
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This is the first time that the two leaders are holding a bilateral summit after the last time they spoke via telephone in September for the first time since Biden took over as President.</p>
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The summit presents a big opportunity to scale down tensions between the world’s two largest economies, but no major breakthroughs are expected on crucial issues such as tensions over Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.</p>
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According to US media reports, the meeting is likely to produce initiatives on a range of issues, including easing of visa restrictions, the creation of a bilateral nuclear weapons dialogue and a possible framework to ease trade frictions to demonstrate bilateral resolve to move the relationship from confrontation to cooperation.</p>
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The summit is being held virtual because Xi is declining invitations to attend all events outside China. National security adviser Jake Sullivan has termed it as “the next best thing” to Biden’s preference of an in-person get-together.</p>
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China is keen to avoid confrontation as the country is getting increasingly alienated and wants to make a success of the Winter Olympic Games that it will be hosting next year. Xi Jinping is also headed for a crucial Communist Party Congress in which he expects to secure an unprecedented third term as President and would like to project that he can hold his own at the world stage.</p>
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Both sides want the summit to defuse tensions that China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng warned in July had produced a bilateral “stalemate.”</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/biden-xi-summit-on-monday-aims-to-scale-down-tensions-but-no-big-breakthroughs-expected-127918.html">Biden, Xi summit on Monday aims to scale down tensions but no big breakthroughs expected</a></strong></p>