U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement on Wednesday to continue military-to-military communications and cooperate on anti-drug policies, as reported by news agency Reuters. After a morning session of talks with the Chinese counterpart, Joe Biden said on X that it was vital they understood each other "leader to leader." "There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress," he said.
In their first face-to-face meeting in over a year, both leaders discussed a range of important issues and the talks yielded agreements on military contacts, curbs on drugs, artificial intelligence and climate change. The leaders also discussed other important world issues such as Iran, the Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan, Indo-Pacific.
China agreed to take action against companies engaged in illegal drug trade in the US after the meeting, a senior official told news agency PTI. According to a senior US official, Biden urged that both nations institutionalise the military-to-military dialogues, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese counterpart when that person is named, as reported by Reuters.
Biden-Xi Discuss Anti-Drug Policies
During the meeting, the two leaders reached an agreement to cooperate on addressing the source of the opioid fentanyl, Reuters reported. It has been a major cause of drug overdoses in the United States.Speaking to reporters, a senior US official cited the agreement and said that China will go directly after specific chemical companies that make fentanyl precursors.
No Plans For Military Action Against Taiwan: Xi Jinping Tells Biden
Xi Jinping reassured the US President about China's intentions towards Taiwan, saying that China has no plans for military action against Taiwan in the coming years, Reuters reported. Although he did lay out conditions about where the use of force could be used. Biden asked China to respect Taiwan's electoral process, Reuters reported, citing US officials.