Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has praised the resumption of talks between U.S. and Chinese Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping respectively on the eve of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi on Monday kicked off a «bridge-building effort,» Kissinger said, before lamenting that there is a long way to go to avoid conflict between the world’s largest economies.
«The two leaders who met briefly will know the consequences of each other’s economic disaster and military impact,» Kissinger said in virtual remarks to the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
«All we can say today is that a method of discussion has been agreed upon and general statements compatible with a cooperative world have been made, but there is still a long way to go,» he explained, referring to the leaders’ statements after the bilateral meeting.
Biden and Xi advocated this Monday during a meeting in the margins of the G20 summit in Bali to promote and boost «cooperation» to avoid conflicts and to face the different global challenges.
The U.S. president, who admitted that Washington will continue to compete with Beijing on trade issues, pointed out that «this competitiveness must never overstep the boundaries and bring the parties into conflict,» as reported by the White House in a statement.
His Chinese counterpart, for his part, insisted on the importance of the two countries playing a «leadership role» at the global level and has stressed that history «is the best textbook». «Let it act as a mirror and guide us into the future,» he said, according to CGTN.
The two leaders shook hands for the first time since taking the oath of office. «I am committed to keeping the lines of communication open between us personally because our countries have an opportunity to address many issues,» Biden said in remarks prior to the start of the meeting.
For his part, Xi stressed that the meeting «has attracted the world’s attention» and emphasized that both countries are in a situation where they «must take care of their bilateral relations.»
The meeting comes three months after the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, made a controversial visit to Taiwan, an issue that has fueled controversy and encouraged military maneuvers by China in the area.
