As President Joe Biden heads overseas for the 2022 UN Climate Conference, the White House announced that Biden will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time since Biden took office.
The two will meet in Indonesia on Monday, the White House said. While this will be Biden’s first face-to-face meeting since he became president, the two leaders have spoken before.
Among the topics on the agenda will be threats posed by China to Taiwan, as well as human rights, the White House said.
A senior administration official told reporters to expect Biden to layout ideas on managing competition responsibly.
Biden will discuss issues that threaten peace across Taiwan straight and concerns over human rights and economic practices, the officials said. They wiill also discuss areas where they can and should work together.
The discussions come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China. Those tensions became even more intense after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this year. The U.S. has a policy that does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty from China.
The White House official said that China had cut some lines of communication, which was described as an overreaction. But the official said that there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy.