Biden to attend G-20 summit, yet unclear if he will meet Xi

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to travel to Indonesia next month to attend a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, the White House said Friday, while noting that information on bilateral engagements will be "forthcoming."

Attention is growing on whether Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the fringes of the G-20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, to be held for two days from Nov. 15. The talks, if realized, will be their first in-person meeting since Biden took office in January last year.

The visit will be part of Biden's three-leg trip that will also take him to Egypt, where he will attend a key U.N. climate conference, and Cambodia.

In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, the president will attend two ASEAN-related annual gatherings, namely the U.S.-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit.

The EAS encompasses the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus the United States, Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Biden, however, will skip a subsequent leader's gathering of a regional economic framework known as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Thailand, with Vice President Kamala Harris joining instead. APEC includes many of the EAS nations, some Latin American countries as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The reason Biden will miss the APEC summit, despite repeatedly emphasizing the importance of the Indo-Pacific amid China's rise, is reportedly due to a schedule conflict with his granddaughter Naomi Biden's wedding.

While in Cambodia for two days from Nov. 12, Biden will reaffirm the "enduring" U.S. commitment to Southeast Asia and underscore the importance of cooperating with ASEAN, the White House said, reflecting the administration's desire to showcase U.S. presence in the region.

Biden will be in Indonesia from Nov. 13 to 16, as leaders of the G-20 -- a group that includes economies such as China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Russia -- will gather.

The possibility of the first in-person Biden-Xi meeting emerged at one point last year envisioned for the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Italy. Xi, however, decided not to travel to the European country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a phone call in late July this year, Biden and Xi agreed to explore the possibility of holding their first face-to-face meeting amid intensifying competition between the two countries in areas ranging from the military to the economy and technology.

Even with tensions between the two countries increasing following U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit in August to Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own, White House officials have talked about efforts to realize a leaders' meeting.

Asked about the prospects of the Biden-Xi meeting on Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. president believes in the importance of having a "channel of communication" with Xi.

"He wants to keep it open with President Xi," the official said, adding that "there is an awful lot of issues" for the United States and China to talk about, including some that are "fairly contentious" and "some that should be collaborative."

In September, Biden expressed eagerness to meet Xi on the sidelines of the G-20 event, saying "If he's there, I'm sure I'll see him."

© Kyodo News