Indonesia - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday told Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping they were both responsible for preventing their superpower competition from turning into conflict, in rare talks aimed at thawing ties that are at their worst in decades. The talks, a long-awaited one come as relations between their countries are at their lowest in decades, marred by disagreements over a host of issues from Taiwan to trade.
The two, holding their first in-person talks since Biden became president, met on the Indonesian island of Bali ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit on Tuesday that is set to be fraught with tension over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
They smiled as they shook hands warmly in front of a row of Chinese and U.S. flags in a ballroom at the luxury hotel Mulia on Bali's Nusa Dua bay.
"It's just great to see you," Biden told Xi as he put an arm around him, adding in remarks delivered in front of reporters that he was committed to keeping lines of communication open on a personal and government level.
“As the leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” Biden said to open the meeting.
He mentioned climate change and food insecurity as problems the world expected their two countries to address.
Xi called on Biden to “chart the right course” and “elevate the relationship” between China and the U.S. He said he was ready for a “candid and in-depth exchange of views” with Biden.
Both leaders entered the highly anticipated meeting with bolstered political standing at home. Democrats triumphantly held onto control of the U.S. Senate, with a chance to boost their ranks by one in a runoff election in Georgia next month, while Xi was awarded a third five-year term in October by the Communist Party’s national congress, a break with tradition.
"So we need to chart the right course for the China-U.S. relationship. We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship," Xi said.
"The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship," he said, adding he looked forward to working with Biden to bring the relationship back on the right track.
Neither leader wore a mask to ward off COVID though members of their delegations did.
Their main topics of discussion are expected to be Taiwan, Ukraine and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, issues that will also loom over the G20 that is being held without Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Putin at the G20 summit - the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February - after the Kremlin said Putin was too busy to attend. Russia's foreign ministry said a report that Lavrov was taken to hospital after arriving in Bali was fake news.
White House officials and their Chinese counterparts have spent weeks negotiating details of the meeting, which was held at Xi’s hotel with translators providing simultaneous interpretation through headsets.
-Reuters/AP