(CNN) – US President Joe Biden said this Saturday that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is looking to “buy some diplomatic space” in a moment captured by an open microphone at the Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
“We believe that Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimize turbulence in China’s diplomatic relations, and he is also looking to carve out some diplomatic space, in my opinion, to aggressively pursue China’s interests,” you can hear say to Biden.
“China continues to behave aggressively, testing this throughout the region, and it is true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Strait,” the president continued. .
CNN contacted the National Security Council, which said it will not comment on the content of the moment captured by the president’s open microphone.
Although National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan insisted during a briefing with reporters this Saturday morning that “China is not the focus of the Quad,” it is clear from White House reporting on the president’s meetings with other world leaders that China’s increasingly aggressive tactics in the South China Sea will play a prominent role in the weekend summit. Biden is bringing together the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for a Quad summit in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, this weekend.
For example, in the White House report on Biden’s one-on-one meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at the president’s home in Wilmington, the report says that “the leaders discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China.” (PRC) and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea.”
That same phrase is seen verbatim in the report provided by the White House after President Biden’s meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
“The leaders discussed their respective diplomacy with China and their shared concerns about its coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea,” the White House said in a report from that meeting late Friday.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that he anticipated the leaders will discuss the “challenges that still exist in the region caused by China’s aggressive military action.” For example: unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait.”
President Biden elevated the Quad to leadership status early in his term, and it has been a key pillar of his strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.
Although the question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will lead the next administration, and what approach they will take toward alliances and China, could be a major topic at the weekend meeting as the four leaders plot next steps in your agenda.
