President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will speak by telephone in “the coming weeks”, the White House said on Wednesday, following meetings between top US and Chinese officials in Beijing.
The announcement came after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, held two days of talks in Beijing as part of a “strategic channel” created to stabilise relations and to enable discussions about sensitive issues such as Taiwan.
Ahead of Sullivan’s meeting in Beijing, one US official said the two leaders could meet once more before Biden leaves office — an option that has become feasible since he withdrew from this year’s presidential race. They could meet at the Apec forum in Peru or the G20 in Brazil, both in November after the US election.