Last week, US President Joe Biden spoke to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the phone. There had been no talks in the last seven months between the leaders of the world's two largest economies. During this, Biden also proposed the first meeting in front of Jinping, but a new report claims that Jinping turned down the offer and turned his eyes to the US.
A report in the Financial Times claimed that Xi not only turned down an offer to meet with Biden but also asked the US to soften its tough stance towards Beijing. The newspaper has published this report after interacting with some experts on the phone call that took place on Thursday.
The White House did not immediately comment on the report. But one of the people briefed about the 90-minute phone call between Biden and Xi confirmed the report.
The source said that during the call, Xi Jinping clearly stated that there is a need to improve relations between the two countries first. The Chinese embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to the report.
In its report, the Financial Times quoted sources as saying that Biden proposed the first face-to-face summit between the two leaders and that he did not even expect such a quick response from Xi. The report quoted a US official as saying that Xi did not pay any heed to the idea of the summit. However, in the eyes of the White House, a possible reason for this is also the corona epidemic.
The two leaders had frank, in-depth and comprehensive strategic discussions on bilateral ties and relevant issues of common interest, Xinhua news agency reported. At the same time, the White House also reported that the two leaders had "extensive, strategic discussions" aimed at managing the growing rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
