US Vice President Joe Biden expressed disappointment that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, decided to boycott the G20 summit in New Delhi this week.
“I am disappointed, but I will see him,” Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday, when asked about reports that Xi will not attend the leaders’ conference.
Biden did not disclose where he will next meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. If Xi does not fly to Delhi, he and Biden may have the opportunity to meet in November, when the United States hosts the APEC meeting in San Francisco.
According to individuals acquainted with the meeting’s preparations who sought anonymity to speak about the plans, Xi does not intend to fly to India for the summit. The move comes amid rising tensions between China and India, and it is likely to further sour relations between the two countries.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Xi’s stead, while another suggested it would be another unnamed government figure.
Biden and Xi last spoke in November on the margins of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, but any progress was thwarted when an alleged Chinese spy balloon violated the US border.
Mr Xi had previously stated that he would fly to the Indian capital for the summit, but China’s foreign ministry refused to confirm his participation when asked to do so at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
According to news reports citing unnamed officials acquainted with the annual meeting’s preparations, Mr. Xi will not attend this year’s summit.
This comes as relations between China and India deteriorate. Among other things, the two countries are fighting each other along their disputed border in the Himalayan region.
India objected last week after Beijing produced a map claiming Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as Chinese territory.
At a gathering of the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco in November, Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden may yet have the chance to speak.
The departure occurs as tensions between the US and China have been worse over the previous year.
Hopes for a resumption of bilateral relations were dashed around two months after the two leaders’ November 2017 summit on Bali, an Indonesian island. This was due to an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon in the US sky.
The two nations differ on a number of topics, including Hong Kong and Xinjiang’s human rights situations, Taiwan’s territorial claims, the South China Sea, and Beijing’s expanding control over a number of industries.
The two nations have fundamental disagreements on a variety of topics, ranging from Taiwan—which was exacerbated in part by US lawmakers visiting the island and a visit by Taiwan’s president to the US—to Biden’s export restrictions on semiconductor technology, reports of Chinese surveillance from Cuba, and the balloon incident.
A number of senior Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Climate Envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, have visited China recently in an effort to strengthen ties.
The US anticipated that the G20 summit in India would mark the next step in de-icing its relationship with China.
It was said by Biden last week that he “hopes” Xi will attend the summit.
