By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for likely the final time on Saturday, senior administration officials said, as Beijing prepares for a potentially more confrontational period with Washington under Donald Trump.
The two leaders are expected to hold talks spanning a range of global hot spots, including heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. He did not confirm the date of the meeting.
It will be Biden and Xi’s first known interaction since an April phone call.
The two leaders have tried to keep tensions at bay over issues ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea and Russia, and American demands for more Chinese help to stem the flow of the ingredients for fentanyl, the leading cause of U.S. drug overdoses.
Biden will raise concerns over a Chinese-linked group that recently hacked into private telecommunications of prominent U.S. officials, Sullivan said.
“The president has demonstrated that the U.S. and (the People’s Republic of China) can manage our differences and prevent competition from veering into conflict or confrontation, and he’s done that by ensuring the maintenance of open lines of communication,” he said.
Officials said he would also raise Chinese support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and the presence of over 10,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden and Xi restored leader-level talks last November that produced more cooperation on counter-narcotics efforts but little movement on bigger issues like a potential conflict over Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China claims as its own territory.
The Democratic administration finalized rules last month restricting U.S. investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors in China that are set to take effect in January. That followed Biden raising tariffs on more goods from China.
Both steps were rejected by China as counterproductive.
Trump, a Republican, has vowed to adopt blanket 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods as part of a package of “America First” trade measures. Beijing opposes those steps.
“Transitions are uniquely consequential moments in geopolitics; They’re a time when competitors and adversaries can see possibly opportunity because you have this change in government here,” Sullivan said.
“Part of what President Biden will communicate is that we need to maintain stability, clarity, predictability through this transition between the United States and China.”
Trump’s early personnel choices have included several hawkish voices on China in senior positions, such as U.S. Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Xi reportedly called Trump last week to congratulate him on his Nov. 5 election victory. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
