President Joe Biden Denies Reports President Xi Jinping Has Turned Down Offer Of Face-to-face Meeting

President Joe Biden with President Xi Jinping. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden has denied media reports that China's President Xi Jinping last week rejected his offer for a face-to-face meeting.

The Financial Times quoted several people briefed on the 90-minute call between the two leaders last week, as saying President Xi did not accept Biden's offer and instead insisted Washington adopt a less harsh tone towards Beijing.

"That's not true," President Joe Biden said when asked by reporters if he was disappointed that President Xi did not want to meet him.

Meanwhile, United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the report was not an accurate depiction of the communications between the two countries' leaders.

However, a source who was among those briefed on the call confirmed the report was accurate.

"Xi seems to be hinting that the tone and mood of the relationship needs to be improved first," the source told Reuters. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

The Financial Times quoted one of its sources as saying President Biden had raised the summit as one of several possibilities to establish continued communication with President Xi.

Although, the meeting of the two in the near future is uncertain, because it is related to concerns about COVID-19. Initially, the G20 summit in Italy in October was called the moment that allowed the two to meet face-to-face. However, President Xi is known to have not left China since last year's pandemic.

"As we have said, the Presidents discussed the importance of being able to have private discussions between the two leaders and we will respect that," Sullivan added.

The phone call between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping last week was the first in seven months. The two discussed the need to ensure competition between the world's two largest economic powers does not lead to conflict.

The White House said the two calls were an attempt to keep the lines of communication open. However, there are no plans for further talks.

Separately, Chinese state media said President Xi had informed President Biden that US policies towards China were causing "serious difficulties" in relations between the two countries. But added, both sides agreed to maintain intense communication, asking work-level teams to improve coordination.