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Japan – US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that ties between Washington and Beijing should be thawed “very soon,” a first considering relations have cooled after all the controversy over an alleged Chinese spy balloon.
Biden assured that relations deteriorated after his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit held on the Indonesian island of Bali in November.
Washington’s decision in February to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States sparked a diplomatic standoff between the world’s two largest economies.
Billed as an opportunity to improve relations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing was canceled in the aftermath of the incident.
On Sunday, at a press conference, after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden was asked why there was a direct line between the United States and China.
“You are right, we should have an open hotline. At the Bali conference, that is what President Xi and I agreed that we were going to do and meet,” he said.
“And then this silly balloon carrying two freight wagons of spy material flew over the United States,” Biden added.
“They took it down and everything changed when it comes to talking to each other. I think you’ll see that start to thaw out pretty soon.”
The Biden administration has also angered China by targeting the trade in advanced microchips, citing risks of military use.
The president defended these actions on Sunday, a day after the Group of Seven major world economies warned China about its “militarization activities” in the region.
“China is building its military, and so I have made it clear that I am not willing to trade certain products with China,” he said.
“Now we have a commitment from all our partners that they are not going to do that either, provide that type of material.”
“But that’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.'”
With information from AFP
