United States President Joe Biden will make clear in his bilateral meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Indonesia that his country seeks no conflict, a White House official said on Sunday.
The two leaders are set to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali this week for their first face-to-face meeting since President Biden took office in Jan. 2021. Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser to Joe Biden, said the meeting could last "a couple of hours".
"The president sees the United States and China as being engaged in a stiff competition, but that competition should not tip over into conflict or confrontation," Mr Sullivan told reporters. "It needs to be managed responsibly ... and there are also areas where we can work together."
Mr Sullivan said President Biden would be "totally straightforward and direct" in his conversation with President Xi, continuing an approach he has pursued from the beginning of his presidency. He said the administration was not seeking to "reset" the relationship, despite various issues and flashpoints that had emerged, but saw the meeting as a continuation of Joe Biden's approach.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Joe Biden would speak with reporters after his meeting with President Xi, but declined to say if he would hold a full news conference.
The US president is on his way to the G20 summit in Indonesia having just met with Southeast Asian and East Asian leaders in Cambodia.
President Biden's visit to Cambodia showed there is a "huge demand signal" for US engagement, Jake Sullivan said.
He added that Joe Biden feels the results of the US midterm elections, in which the Democratic Party crushed hopes of a Republican "red wave", will establish a strong position for him on the international stage.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
