By Danny Kemp and Frankie Taggart WASHINGTON, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Republican senators blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel Wednesday as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package. The vote marked a significant defeat for President Joe Biden, who had warned Congress earlier in the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not stop with […]
Tag: Biden
Biden-Xi talks to boost stability in Taiwan Strait: envoy
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 18, 2023 (AFP) – Talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week — and agreement to restore military communications — will likely improve stability in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s chief delegate to an economic summit said Friday. “I really think it was a good meeting, it was good news that they resumed military communications,” said Morris Chang, who is in San Francisco as Taiwan’s envoy for the […]
Biden, Xi compete for Asia-Pacific allies at summit
By Danny KEMP SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping made rival bids to win over Asia-Pacific allies at a summit in San Francisco Thursday, just a day after the two leaders met in a bid to reduce tensions between the superpowers. “We’re not going anywhere,” Biden told business leaders attending the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in San Francisco as he tried to reassure […]
President Biden reassures APEC summit, says stable China ties benefit world
By Danny KEMP SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden reassured Asia-Pacific economies of American commitment at a summit in San Francisco Thursday, and said his talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping would provide stability for the region and the whole world. “We’re not going anywhere,” Biden told the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) group, which includes 21 members but lives under the shadow of US-China relations. The summit opened with a […]
China calls Biden’s Xi dictator comments ‘extremely wrong’
BEIJING, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – China condemned on Thursday US President Joe Biden’s description of Xi Jinping as a dictator as “extremely wrong”, after the two leaders wrapped up a summit in California. Asked about Biden’s remarks, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said: “This kind of speech is extremely wrong and is irresponsible political manipulation. China firmly opposes it.” “I need to point out that there are always some people with ulterior motives attempting […]
China ready to be ‘partner and friend’ of US: Xi
By Beiyi SEOW SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – China is “ready to be a partner and friend of the United States,” President Xi Jinping told US business leaders on Wednesday, as concerns mount over the country’s slowing economy. If one country sees the other as a main competitor and most consequential geopolitical challenge, “this will only lead to wrong policymaking, misguided actions and unwanted results,” he told a dinner on the sidelines of […]
Quick! buy flowers: Biden reminds Xi of wife’s birthday
Being a head of state is a busy job and family life sometimes takes a back seat. Luckily there are other heads of state on hand to remind you when you might have forgotten your wife’s birthday. Chinese President Xi Jinping seems set to avoid a domestic black mark after Joe Biden pointed out that his life partner of more than three decades was about to celebrate her special day — on the same date […]
Xi warns Biden not to arm Taiwan, agrees to restart military talks
BEIJING, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden at a summit to stop arming Taiwan but agreed to restart high-level military-to-military talks, Beijing said Thursday. “The US side should… stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification,” Xi told Biden, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry. “China will realise reunification, and this is unstoppable,” the Chinese leader said of the future of the self-ruled island, which […]
Biden hails ‘real progress’ as Xi summit ends with garden walk
By Brendan SMIALOWSKI with Danny KEMP in San Francisco WOODSIDE, United States, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden hailed “real progress” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday as the two leaders wrapped up talks to ease tensions with a stroll in the gardens of a California retreat. Biden said the four-hour talks had gone “well” and gave a double thumbs up, while he and Xi both waved at reporters as they […]
Hamas says Biden ‘wholly responsible’ for Israeli operation in Gaza hospital
The Palestinian militant group Hamas accused US President Joe Biden on Wednesday of being “wholly responsible” for an Israeli army operation at Gaza’s largest hospital. “We hold the occupation (Israel) and President Biden wholly responsible for the assault on the Al-Shifa medical complex,” Hamas said in a statement. “The adoption by the White House and the Pentagon of the occupation’s false claim that the resistance is using the Al-Shifa medical complex for military ends has […]
Xi, Biden arrive for key San Francisco summit
By Huw GRIFFITH SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 15, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday on the eve of an eagerly awaited meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. The pair will huddle on the sidelines of the APEC summit in California for their first encounter in a year as trade tensions, sanctions and the question of Taiwan have fueled quarrels […]
At Biden’s ‘noodle diplomacy’ eatery, Chinese eye warming US ties
By Peter CATTERALL BEIJING, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – A humble restaurant on a Beijing street serving up a hearty dish of pork liver, lungs and intestines was once the site of an unconventional China-US rapprochement. On a 2011 visit, then US vice president Joe Biden went for lunch at Yaoji Chaogan, sparking a social media craze over his “noodle diplomacy”. Outside the eatery in one of the capital’s historic hutong neighbourhoods this week, Chinese […]





