The meeting, which was not on Biden’s agenda, mimicked one that was also held by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, received this Friday, October 27, to surprise, the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, at the White House, representing the highest ranking meeting held by the president with an official in China. last year.
The meeting, which was not on Biden’s agenda, mimics the one that the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, also surprised the president of China, Xi Jinping, during his trip to Beijing in June.
According to a brief statement from the White House, Biden told Wang that “the United States and China must manage their rivalry and relationship responsibly, with open lines of communication” and “work together to address the challenge to the world.”
In the same way, the American president sent his condolences for the death of former Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who died this Friday at the age of 68 due to a heart attack.
Biden received the Chinese Foreign Minister when he visited the White House to meet with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, after two days of meetings with Blinken at the State Department.
Washington has been trying to smooth things over with Beijing for months, a need now made more urgent by the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In particular, the United States wants China to use its influence in Iran to prevent the Persian nation from entering the war and avoid conflict in the region.
The Washington meetings between Blinken and Wang also served to prepare for a possible meeting between Biden and Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) to be held in mid-November in San Francisco.
The White House has been preparing this meeting for weeks, which has not yet been officially confirmed and which will serve to carry out the strategy of rapprochement between the two governments that began months ago with Blinken’s visit to Beijing.
