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US President Joe Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping
Photo: MANDEL NGAN;
NOEL CELIS / AFP
The United States sees the rising world power China as its main geopolitical competitor.
That is why the planned meeting between US President Joe Biden and China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali is being eagerly awaited.
Biden wants to talk about North Korea, among other things: The US President wants to tell Xi that China is also interested in playing a constructive role, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday.
If North Korea continues on its current path, the US would increase its military presence in the region.
"North Korea poses a threat not only to the United States, and not only to South Korea and Japan, but also to peace and stability throughout the region," Sullivan said on the flight with Biden to the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh.
"And if North Korea continues on this path, it will simply mean further increased US military and security presence in the region." China has an interest in curbing North Korea's "worst tendencies," Sullivan said.
Pyongyang's missile tests alarm US
Pyongyang had recently intensified its missile tests in response to joint military exercises by South Korea and the United States.
Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea could conduct a nuclear weapons test in the near future.
Both presidents have spoken about it several times before via video and phone, but the situation is more acute at the moment, Sullivan said.
Biden will also discuss the danger with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the summit of the Southeast Asian alliance of states in Phnom Penh in a three-way meeting.
As a large neighbor, China traditionally maintains friendly relations with North Korea.
It advocates dialogue in the conflict and complains that North Korea's "legitimate and reasonable concerns" have not been taken into account and that talks have come to a standstill.
The US should take "concrete steps" to address North Korea's concerns and create favorable conditions for talks to resume, a State Department spokesman recently reiterated the Chinese position.
In Bali, Biden will meet Xi in person for the first time since taking office as US President.
The White House confirmed the planned meeting on Thursday.
Both presidents want to talk about a deepening of communication channels and a "responsible approach to competition" between the two countries.
Biden himself had already said on Wednesday that he would discuss the "red lines" between the two states at a meeting with Xi and explore possible "conflicts" between the two countries' central interests.
The face-to-face meeting in Bali is nothing new for Xi and Biden: they met while they were vice presidents.
col/AFP/dpa/Reuters