(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at an economic summit in Peru on Saturday.
NewsNation Washington correspondent Kellie Meyer says the trip will likely be overshadowed by Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on China.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called competition with China a top concern as President Biden hands the reins to President-elect Trump. He said the meeting takes place during a “critical moment between the US and China” and will “ensure that we don’t run into any problems in the next two months in this transition of power.”
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Sullivan was opaque about how Biden and administration officials will answer expected questions from Xi and his aides about the incoming Trump administration.
“Transitions are uniquely consequential moments in geopolitics. They’re a time when competitors and adversaries can see possibly opportunity,” Sullivan said. “And so part of what President Biden will communicate is that we need to maintain stability, clarity, predictability through this transition between the United States and China.”
During his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump promised to slap blanket 60% tariffs on all Chinese exports to the U.S., a move that would jolt the already tumultuous relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
