"Biden Wanted to Talk with Xi Jinping After Shooting Down Chinese Reconnaissance Balloon"

President Joe Biden reportedly wanted to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone after shooting down a Chinese surveillance balloon last February, according to U.S. media reports.

The United States had planned Secretary of State Tony Blinken's visit to China in February to improve relations, but it was postponed due to the surveillance balloon controversy. Ultimately, the schedule was delayed, and Secretary Blinken will visit China for two days starting tomorrow (the 18th).

According to major U.S. media reports on the 16th (local time), after the Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down last February, President Biden wanted to have a phone conversation with President Xi, but his national security advisors discouraged him.

At the time, advisors reportedly advised that the Chinese government was too agitated and that a phone call from President Biden would not be productive. They said it was not the right time for a conversation between the leaders and that the best approach was to start with contacts at the working level and then move up to high-level talks, sources said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and U.S. President Joe Biden

Last February, a Chinese surveillance balloon entered U.S. airspace, and the U.S. scrambled fighter jets to shoot it down, causing U.S.-China relations to rapidly cool. Secretary Blinken had planned to visit China in February, but the visit was indefinitely postponed due to this incident.

Last month, Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, and Wang Yi, member of the Chinese Communist Party Central Political Bureau, met in Vienna, Austria, signaling a shift in the bilateral atmosphere. After a four-month delay, the postponed visit to China has been confirmed, and Secretary Blinken will visit China tomorrow.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.