An absence far from going unnoticed. US President Joe Biden said on Sunday, September 3, he was disappointed by the absence of Chinese leader Xi Jinping from the G20 summit to be held in India this week, assuring that he would still “be able to see him”. Asked about Xi Jinping’s absence from the New Delhi summit, Joe Biden told reporters, “I’m disappointed, but I’ll be able to see it,” without giving further details.
In recent months, Beijing and Washington have resumed dialogue with a succession of visits by senior American officials to Beijing, including the head of diplomacy Antony Blinken. But bilateral relations remain strained, with trade disputes, Chinese expansion in the South China Sea and the issue of the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan remaining stumbling blocks.
On Thursday, a senior EU official said Xi Jinping would not attend the G20 and would be represented by Premier Li Qiang. Chinese President and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a rare face-to-face meeting at the BRICS summit in South Africa last month, but tensions remain high between the two Asian giants.
