Biden and Xi meet virtually as U.S.-China chasm widens

By AAMER MADHANI and COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has opened his virtual meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on Monday by saying his goal is to ensure competition “does not veer into conflict.” The two leaders are meeting by video amid mounting tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. Biden has criticized Beijing over human rights abuses against Uyghurs in northwest China, squelching democratic protests in Hong Kong and more. Xi’s deputies, meanwhile, have lashed out against the Biden White House for interfering in what it sees as internal Chinese matters. Biden would have preferred to meet Xi in person, but the Chinese leader has not left his country since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.