Joe Biden, Xi Jinping to speak by phone in effort to improve U.S.-China ties

President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will speak by phone “in the coming weeks,” the White House said Wednesday.

BEIJING — In the latest sign that rival superpowers China and the United States are working to stabilize ties, national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday and held rare talks with a top Chinese military official.

It comes a day after the White House said that President Joe Biden would speak by phone with Xi “in the coming weeks.”

Sullivan’s trip to China, his first in the role, comes at a time of rising tensions between China and U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific, where Washington has criticized growing Chinese pressure on Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy claimed by Beijing, and Chinese military actions in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The White House said Sullivan’s meeting with Xi were part of efforts to “responsibly manage” the U.S.-China relationship.

“Both sides welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication, including planning for a call between President Biden and President Xi in the coming weeks,” it said in a readout.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jake-sullivan-china-joe-biden-xi-jinping-rcna168350

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