Xi Jinping Ignores Key Biden Question

Chinese leader Xi Jinping reportedly ignored questions during his meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday on whether he trusted the U.S. president or not.

ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang attended the meeting between Biden and Xi at the Filoli estate in Woodside, California, Wednesday afternoon, where the world leaders met face-to-face for the first time in a year. The rendezvous was scheduled on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, and both leaders are expected to use this week to focus on ways to ease the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

After opening remarks at the Filoli meeting Wednesday, Wang reported on X, formerly Twitter, that she posed a question to Xi in Mandarin, asking the Chinese leader, "Do you trust Biden?"

Xi, according to Wang's report, "took out his translation earpiece to hear my question, looked at me, but didn't respond."

The superpowers are expected to discuss a handful of areas during the APEC where the U.S. and China have long butted heads, including Taiwan, influence in the South China Sea, and the ongoing conflicts between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas. According to Wang's report of Wednesday's meeting, both Biden and Xi acknowledged that their countries have not always gotten along, but that reaching a compromise was a priority.

"We've known each other for a long time," Biden told the Chinese leader. "We haven't always agreed, which was not a surprise to anyone, but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful."

Biden also used his opening remarks to emphasize that competition between the U.S. and China must "not veer into conflict," and that both leaders are tasked with maintaining their relationship "responsibly," reported Reuters. Xi appeared to agree with the U.S. president, stating that he viewed the U.S.-China relationship as "the most important bilateral relationship in the world."

"For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option," Xi added, according to Reuters' report. "It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides."

Newsweek reached out to the White House Press Office for comment Wednesday evening.

This year's summit between Biden and Xi is starting off on a much stronger note than the November 2022 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, which took place after China suspended communications with the U.S. in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. Still, the officials are entering discussions this week with a heavy weight on their shoulders, with Biden facing pressure from Republican lawmakers ahead of the APEC over fears that the Democratic leader may be too lenient on Xi.

"There is no such thing as 'healthy' economic competition with China," read a statement by Idaho Senator Jim Risch, who spearheaded a letter signed by 22 GOP Senators ahead of Biden's meeting with Xi.

"It is paramount that Biden and his administration don't give an inch on U.S. policy on Taiwan," Risch continued. "We have seen this before, and it would be one more grave error in the competition between the United States and China. Few issues are more urgent than ensuring Taiwan has the capabilities and training it needs to deter Chinese aggression."