Biden, Xi discuss efforts to tamp down tensions

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, discussed on Monday efforts to wind down simmering tensions in their bilateral relationship while managing increasing competition.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Biden objected to what the White House said are China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan,” which it said undermined “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity.”

Biden “explained that the United States will continue to compete vigorously with the PRC,” but maintained “this competition should not veer into conflict and underscored that the United States and China must manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” the White House said in a statement, referring to China by its formal acronym.

“The two leaders discussed the importance of developing principles that would advance these goals and tasked their teams to discuss them further,” it added.