US President Joe Biden indicated that relations between Washington and Beijing should begin to thaw “very soon” after Washington shot down a Chinese balloon, allegedly a spy, earlier this year.
The American President, Joe Bidenindicated this Sunday, May 21, that relations between Washington and Beijing should begin to “thaw very soon”, after Washington shot down a Chinese balloon, allegedly a spy, this year.
Biden explained that relations deteriorated in the months following his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali in November.
Washington’s decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon over the United States in February sparked a diplomatic row between the two powers. A visit to Beijing by the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, billed as an occasion to improve relations, was canceled after that incident.
At a press conference this Sunday, following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden was asked why a planned direct line of communication between the United States and China was not operational.
“They are right, we should have an open hotline. At the Bali conference, it is what President Xi and I had agreed that we were going to do and meet,” President Biden responded.
“And then this stupid balloon carrying two carloads of spy equipment flew over the United States,” he added.
“He was shot down and everything changed in terms of dialogue. I think you’ll see how that starts to thaw very soon.
The Biden administration also angered China by targeting the trade in advanced microchips, citing risks of use for military purposes.
President Biden defended those actions on Sunday, a day after the G7 warned China against its “militarization activities” in the region.
“China is developing its military, and so I have made it clear that I am not prepared to trade certain items with China,” he said.
“All of our allies pledged not to do that either, not to provide that kind of material. But it’s not an overt act, it’s an act that says, ‘We’re going to make sure we do everything we can to maintain the status quo.’”
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