US White House Aims for Constructive US-China Summit in November

The White House stated on the 31st (local time) that it aims for a "constructive meeting" between the U.S. and Chinese leaders in November.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing that day, "We are aiming for constructive dialogue and a meeting between the leaders in San Francisco in November." This expressed a strong intention to hold a U.S.-China summit on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled to take place in San Francisco from November 11 to 17.

A senior U.S. administration official explained, "There is a principled agreement that the (U.S. and Chinese leaders) will meet in San Francisco in November," adding, "We are still working on the details necessary to finalize such plans."

Recently, Wang Yi, member of the Chinese Communist Party Central Political Bureau and Foreign Minister, visited Washington D.C. from October 26 to 28, holding U.S.-China foreign minister talks and discussing the possibility of a summit in November. This visit by a top Chinese official came after efforts to resume dialogue following the sharp deterioration of U.S.-China relations earlier this year due to the "Chinese surveillance balloon" incident, raising expectations for the possibility of a bilateral summit.

However, on the last day of his visit, Wang Yi remarked, "The road to San Francisco will not be smooth," adding, "We cannot leave it to autonomous driving." In diplomatic circles, this statement was interpreted as a strategic move to deter the U.S. from announcing additional sanctions against China before the summit, which could embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping. There was also analysis that it was an attempt to steer pre-summit negotiations in favor of China.

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