China has continued to push for a meeting between top-level officials from both countries as the Biden administration continues to take shape, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Beijing is pressing for a meeting of its top diplomat with senior aides to President Joe Biden to explore a summit between the two nations' leaders, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the initiative. The proposal, made soon after President Xi Jinping congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory, was through letters by the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, and through conversations with intermediaries, the WSJ noted.
Beijing raised the idea starting in December of dispatching Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo, the Communist Party's top decision-making body, to Washington. Yang plans to focus on climate change, the pandemic and getting an initial meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the focus shifted away from trade — the issue that has dominated Sino-U.S. relations.
Biden, however, has said he would meet first with allies to discuss issues including how to jointly confront China. He has already spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others. The WSJ said Chinese officials believe that the Biden administration will eventually want to renegotiate the U.S.-China Phase One trade deal, but it added it is unclear whether Biden's choice for U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will push for enforcement of the Phase One deal or press for a new round of negotiations.
Given that the Biden administration has made the U.S. economy a priority and trade has been relegated to a lower focus, and the administration's signal that it wants to enlist U.S. allies to take on China, a top-level meeting is not expected to take place soon.