Washington – President Biden said on Sunday he is seeking stability in the contentious US-China relationship as he visited the region to strengthen US ties with China’s neighbors.
“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden told reporters at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. “I just want to make sure we have a relationship with China that is on the rise, everyone knows what it’s all about.”
Mr. Biden visited India for the G20 summit before traveling to Vietnam to enhance the relationship between the two countries into a comprehensive strategic partnership. The designation puts the US on the same level with Hanoi as China and Russia.
“If India is much more cooperative with the United States, closer to the United States, and Vietnam is closer to the United States, it is not about containing China. What matters is that we have a stable base, a stable base in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. .
Mr. Biden emphasized that building partnerships in the region is not about isolating or hurting China, saying “we think too much in Cold War terms.” Chinese President Xi Jinping was absent from the G20 summit in New Delhi, but Mr Biden said he met with Prime Minister Li Qiang, who holds the country’s No. 2 post. Mr Biden said the two discussed “stability”.
“I want China to succeed economically,” Biden said. “But I want to see them succeed according to the rules.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who met Asian leaders at a summit in Jakarta last week, said tension is to be expected in any relationship when there is “any form of competition.”
‘But that doesn’t mean we look for conflict’ she told ‘Face the Nation’ in an interview that aired Sunday.
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