Team Biden Tells Xi Jinping 'We Are Ready To Talk' Amid Escalating US-China Tensions Over Taiwan

President Joe Biden's envoy to China, Nicholas Burns, said the U.S. is "ready to talk" to Xi Jinping and expressed hope that Beijing would "meet us halfway on this."

What Happened: Burns said, "Our view is we need better channels between the two governments and deeper channels, and we are ready to talk."

"We've never been shy of talking, and we hope the Chinese will meet us halfway on this," he said, according to CNN.

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Burns gave no clear answer about Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China, which was postponed in February after the intrusion of a high-altitude Chinese balloon into U.S. airspace. He added that Blinken's trip to China would be rescheduled "when conditions are appropriate for his visit."

The U.S. is ready for "a more broad-based engagement at the cabinet level," the envoy said.

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Why It Matters: It has been a challenging year in the diplomatic relationship between Washington and Beijing. Tensions between the powerful nations escalated after a visit to Taiwan by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and when a Chinese surveillance balloon crossed into U.S. airspace, following a dramatic reaction from Team Biden.

Burns added that the U.S. and China "had a lot of access and a lot of communication back and forth" last year, but Xi's officials, in the "immediate wake of Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last summer…shut down channels."

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