In a five-and-half hour long meeting with president Xi over dinner on Wednesday night with handful aides, Biden had a ‘back and forth’ conversation on the air defence identification zone (ADIZ) and a host of other bilateral issues.
‘They covered every single topic in the US-China relationship. The conversation was very much a back-and-forth. It reflected the casual candor that the two leaders have developed,’ a US official said in his briefing after the meeting.
On the issue of the air defence zone, ‘the vice president laid out our position in detail,’ the official said.
‘He indicated that we don’t recognize the zone, that we have deep concerns.’ Biden told Xi that ‘We are looking to China to take steps to reduce tensions.’
On his part, ‘President Xi was equally clear in laying out their view of the zone and of territorial disputes in the region,’ the official said.
‘Ultimately, President Xi took on board what the vice president said. It’s up to China, and we’ll see how things will unfold in the coming days and weeks,’ the official said.
‘They covered every single topic in the US-China relationship. The conversation was very much a back-and-forth. It reflected the casual candor that the two leaders have developed,’ a US official said in his briefing after the meeting.
On the issue of the air defence zone, ‘the vice president laid out our position in detail,’ the official said.
‘He indicated that we don’t recognize the zone, that we have deep concerns.’ Biden told Xi that ‘We are looking to China to take steps to reduce tensions.’
On his part, ‘President Xi was equally clear in laying out their view of the zone and of territorial disputes in the region,’ the official said.
‘Ultimately, President Xi took on board what the vice president said. It’s up to China, and we’ll see how things will unfold in the coming days and weeks,’ the official said.