US President Joe Biden on Sunday said the Group of Seven nations had agreed to a united approach to China that called for diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on one country, and hinted that he could speak with China’s President soon.
“We’re not looking to decouple from China. We’re looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China,” Biden told a news conference, adding that G7 nations were more unified than ever in terms of “resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices that hurt our workers”.
But the US President, speaking after a three-day meeting of G7 leaders, said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China “very shortly” after strains caused by an incident earlier this year when the United States shot down a Chinese balloon that flew over sensitive military sites.
“We should have an open hotline,” Biden said. He said he had agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last year to keep communications open, but everything changed after “this silly loon that was carrying twofreight cars worth of spyingequipment”.
Biden suggested a shiftin US-China relations couldoccur soon, echoing his comment to reporters before hisdeparture. “In terms of talking with them, I think you’regoing to see that thaw veryshortly,” Biden said.
On the issue of tensionsbetween China and Taiwan,Biden said there was a clearunderstanding among mostof the allies that if China wereto act unilaterally againstTaiwan, there be a response.“We’re not going to tell Chinawhen they can do,” he said,“But in the meantime, we’regoing to put Taiwan in a position where they can defendthemselves.”
Biden reiterated that theUS and G7 allies would nottrade in materials that wouldallow China to build weaponsof mass destruction, but thatwas “not a hostile act”. He saidhe would not consider easingrestrictions on China on thosematerials, but it was undernegotiation whether to easesanctions on Chinese GeneralLi Shangfu, who was named inMarch as China’s new defenceminister.
