Biden-Xi call likely to take place in coming weeks, says Blinken

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to speak again in the coming weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.

Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi a day earlier for more than five hours to help lay the groundwork for a call between the leaders. While Biden said last month he would speak with Xi “soon,” Blinken suggested it was getting closer.

“With regard to President Xi and President Biden, our expectation is that they will have an opportunity to speak in the weeks ahead,” Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bangkok, Thailand.


The US has stepped up criticism of China for its diplomatic support of Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which has contributed to surging inflation across the globe.

The White House is considering rolling back some punitive tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration, but Biden said Friday that a review was underway and he hadn’t yet made a decision. Blinken on Saturday said he told Wang that China wasn't neutral on the Ukraine war because there's no such thing as being neutral when there is a clear aggressor.