US Vice President Joe Biden has stated that he is “disappointed” that China’s President Xi Jinping wants to skip the upcoming G20 summit in India.
“I am disappointed… but I am going to get to see him,” Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday, without specifying when that meeting would take place.
Beijing announced on Monday that Premier Li Qiang will lead China’s delegation to this week’s conference in Delhi.
Last year, Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden met at the G20 conference in Indonesia.
Despite a flurry of diplomatic visits from Washington this year to restart dialogue, US-China relations remain tight.
When asked directly during Monday’s press conference, China’s foreign ministry neither confirmed nor denied Mr. Xi’s attendance at the Delhi meeting.
“China’s delegation to the G20 summit will be led by Li Qiang.” It is a significant worldwide economic forum. “China has always placed importance on it and has actively participated in related events,” said a spokesman for the foreign ministry.
However, according Chinese news reports citing unnamed sources acquainted with the situation, Mr. Xi does not intend to go.
The announcement comes amid deteriorating relations between China and India. Among other things, the two countries are at odds over their disputed boundary in the Himalayan area. 0
India recently protested when Beijing produced a map claiming Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as Chinese territory.
Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden may still be able to communicate in November at a conference of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders in San Francisco.
An suspected Chinese spy balloon in the skies over the US dashed hopes for a re-set in bilateral relations about two months after the two leaders met in Bali, Indonesia, last November, delaying efforts to restart discussion by months.
The two countries differ on a number of topics, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Taiwan’s and the South China Sea territorial claims, and economic limitations that hinder Beijing’s access to high-tech components.
In an effort to strengthen relations, a number of prominent US officials have visited China in recent months. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry are among them.
Meanwhile, Mr. Xi maintains Beijing’s role as a developing-world leader, mobilizing support for an alternative to the Washington-led world order.
During a recent visit to South Africa to meet with Brics leaders, he criticized the West’s “hegemony” and urged emerging nations to “[shake] off the yoke of colonialism” in his talks.
The Brics are a five-country club of emerging countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are due to join in January, in what is widely regarded as a diplomatic victory for Beijing.
