Tag: USA

WASHINGTON —  U.S. President Joe Biden said he made “positive steps” during an intense hourslong meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday. The two agreed to re-establish lapsed military communications, work together to assess the threats posed by artificial intelligence, and work to combat the scourge of fentanyl. However, Biden’s off-the-cuff comment that he still sees the powerful Chinese leader as a “dictator,” revealed that the two leaders remain, in some ways, far apart. “Well, look, he is,” Biden said, in response to a shouted question from the clamoring throng…

Washington —  Among the guests at a $2,000-a-plate dinner for Xi Jinping Wednesday night was Luca Berrone, attending as a guest of the Chinese government. The Des Moines businessman worked with the volunteer-driven Iowa Sister States program to establish a relationship with Hebei Province in 1983. It was a connection made with corn and solidified with soybeans by an organization that “is dedicated to connecting Iowans with to the world community.” The group’s mission, it says “is to develop and implement programs that promote the cultural, economic and other interests…

WASHINGTON —  It was a meeting a year in the making. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down together on Wednesday just outside of San Francisco, where Asian leaders gathered for an annual summit. It was almost exactly one year since their last encounter in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of another global gathering. In addition to a formal bilateral meeting, Biden and Xi shared a lunch with top advisers and strolled the verdant grounds of the luxury estate where their meeting took place. There’s no word…

Taipei, Taiwan —  Taiwan will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco this week, a rare opportunity for the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people and its high-tech economy to break the diplomatic embargo on it imposed by authoritarian China. Taiwan’s chief delegate will be a civilian rather than a government figure or head of state, under an unwritten rule that satisfies China’s contention that members of the organization participate as economic entities rather than state players. For the seventh time, Taiwan will be represented…

AUSTIN, Texas —  U.S. lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to prioritize the release of U.S. citizens deemed wrongfully detained by China when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco. The U.S. State Department says Texas businessman Mark Swidan, Chinese American businessman Kai Li from Long Island, New York, and California pastor David Lin are wrongfully detained by China. Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has repeatedly spoken out for Mark Swidan. McCaul urged Biden to put the release of Americans…

White House —  Preventing Beijing’s election interference on Taiwan and reestablishing communication between American and Chinese militaries will be high on President Joe Biden’s agenda Wednesday during a highly anticipated meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in the San Francisco Bay area. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke with VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara ahead of that meeting, and said Biden intends to place the rocky relationship on a “more responsible footing” but believes that he’s coming into this meeting from a strong position backed by…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at the historic Filoli estate south of San Francisco on Wednesday, holding about four hours of in-depth talks on a range of bilateral and global issues, according to people familiar with the planning. The talks are taking place on the margins of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, nations, the city is hosting. Filoli Estate and choreography The location of the talks is a VOA exclusive. Filoli boasts nearly 265 hectares of natural lands that feature a…

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. U.S. officials don’t expect any breakthroughs that would improve U.S.-China ties, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul. Voice of America