White House National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Officer John Kirby told an online briefing on the 22nd local time that the US and China were nervous about continuing high-level communications after the first face-to-face summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 14th. Asked if it should be taken as a sign of easing, he replied, “I wouldn’t describe the relationship with China as a thaw.”
Regarding the conversation between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Xi on the 19th after the US-China summit, and the US-China defense ministers’ meeting held that day, Kirby said, “It good thing because it’s in line with President. Biden’s will to continue communicating with Chinese leaders.”
However, he said, “As President Biden said after the meeting with President Xi, there will still be issues of conflict in relation to China, whether it’s the South China Sea, Taiwan or Fair Trade.”
“There are areas where we can and must cooperate, such as climate change, so we must find a balance in the US-China relationship by balancing conflicting areas, ” he said.
Coordinator Kirby also talked about China’s trade practices and cyber theft, and also mentioned that a reporter said, “China is not cooperating with the North Korea issue at the United Nations Security Council.” “I think they can put pressure on him, but China rightly pointed out that they didn’t.”
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