[UPDATE] Top Chinese Diplomat To Meet With Joe Biden This Week for Diplomatic Talks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to meet with United States President Joe Biden later this week for diplomatic talks after the top Chinese official meets with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday.

The White House declined to comment about the potential diplomatic talks and it remains unclear how substantial Biden and Wang's possible interaction will be. However, even an informal greeting would be the Democratic president's senior-most interaction with the Chinese government since briefly meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

US-China Relations

The meeting between Biden and Li occurred on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit held in New Delhi, India, last September. The potential meeting between Biden and Wang comes as US and Chinese officials set the stage for a long-sought, one-on-one meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping.

The two world leaders are planning to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco that will be held in November. The last meeting between the two presidents was at a summit in Bali in November last year, as per Reuters.

The top Chinese diplomat is also set to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his Washington visit from Thursday to Saturday. Several top US officials, including Blinken, met their Chinese counterparts this summer.

The Chinese foreign minister is the top foreign affairs official in the Chinese Communist Party and has been appointed to the position since the dismissal of Qin Gang in July. During a Wednesday press conference, Biden said he plans to "compete" with China "according to the international rules - economically, politically, and other ways."

However, the Democratic president said he was not looking for conflict and warned Chinese officials against aggression toward the Philippines. On Wednesday, Xi said that China is willing to cooperate with the US as both sides try to manage their differences and work together to respond to global challenges.

Avoiding Worst-Case Scenarios

American officials have repeatedly discussed creating "guardrails" to prevent worst-case scenarios. According to Yahoo News, they have also sought to restore contact between the two nations' militaries even as powers disagree strongly on issues from trade to Taiwan.

Biden warned China over the Philippines after Washington's Asian ally said that Chinese vessels deliberately hit Manila's boats in dispute-rife waters. However, this was an allegation that Beijing disputed.

The US president said any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces would invoke their mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. Biden has continuously championed allies in the face of China's growing influence and has even forged a new three-way military alliance with Australia and Britain.

The US president said he had previously talked to Xi about the latter's concerns, saying they are not "surrounding China." He said they were merely ensuring the sea lanes remain open.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said they hoped Wang's visit would help calm tensions between the US and China. She noted that they wanted to get relations back on the track of health and stable development, said Channel News Asia.