Xi hopes to reduce ‘misunderstanding’ with the US

A brief meeting between Xi and US Vice President was held on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ conference in Bangkok, reports Asian Lite News

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday and expressed hope that the United States and China will jointly reduce misunderstanding and return the relations to a stable track.

This brief meeting between Xi and US Vice President was held on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ conference in Bangkok.

“On 19 November local time, President Xi Jinping had a brief exchange with Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States at the latter’s request on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

In the Chinese readout of the meeting, Xi said that his recent meeting with US President Joe Biden was strategic, constructive, and had important guiding significance for the next stage of China-US relations .

The Chinese leader expressed the hope that both countries would “further enhance mutual understanding, reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment, and jointly drive China-US relations back to a healthy and stable track.” The readout said that the US Vice President will hopefully play an active role to this end.

Harris, meanwhile, said that the US does not seek “confrontation or conflict with Beijing,” adding that both nations should cooperate on global issues and keep channels of communication open.

“Today in Bangkok, I greeted President Xi before the APEC Leaders Retreat. I noted a key message that President Biden emphasized in his November 14 meeting with President Xi: we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries,” Harris tweeted.

At the recently concluded G20 summit in Bali, Biden met with Xi on Monday for a face-to-face meeting as leaders of their respective countries.

They discussed a range of issues during their meeting on Monday, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the conflict in Ukraine, human rights situation in China and Taiwan.

The two leaders reached a mutual understanding with one another in the course of their talks, Biden said.

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