Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is about to hold his first face-to-face meeting with President Xi Jinping of China since Mr. Biden was inaugurated last year.
The last time Biden and Xi met face-to-face was in Davos in 2017 when he was Vice President. Since Biden came into office last year, both leaders have had five phone or video calls.
The last American leader Xi met in person was former President Donald J. Trump in 2019, the year before COVID-19 hit.
The White House said ahead of their meeting that both leaders will discuss “efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC, responsibly manage competition, and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”
The two Leaders will also discuss a range of regional and global issues, added the White House.
China is now a rising power projected to overtake the United States economically and has been expanding its influence across the world, including in Africa.
Not many decades ago, the Chinese were laughed at in the United States, with signs such as ‘dogs and Chinese not allowed’ into some rooms.
The United States now sees China as its biggest competitor and threat, a nuclear power with a strong economy.
But there are challenges spanning from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the South East Asia in general. Many in the United States also expect President Biden to raise the issue of the origin of COVID-19 which originated from China and has killed more than one million Americans between 2020 and 2022.
The world is sick and tired of the unipolar world where the US/Britain/NATO decides who to attack…
China is attacked big time on Belt and Road, and their desire to improve the living standards for everyone means the end to global dominance by the “Masters of the Universe”.
This threatens the UBN place in the universe, as they are already collapsing rapidly as the Western currency
is about ready to blow up. This is why they are taking on Russia right now. The world is close to Nuclear War
as Russia will never bow to the demands of the Western “Masters of the Universe”. PEACE IS THE NEW
NAME FOR DEVELOPMENT! Build cities, infrastructure, and stop spending billions on arms for Ukraine.