Joe Biden to press Xi Jinping on North Korea in G20 talks

US President Joe Biden would not make demands on China but rather give Xi Jinping 鈥榟is perspective.鈥� (AFP)
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  • Meeting between two superpowers comes after a record-breaking spate of missile tests by Pyongyang
  • Leaders of the world鈥檚 two biggest economies have spoken by phone multiple times since Joe Biden became president in January 2021

PHNOM PENH: US President Joe Biden landed in Asia on Saturday vowing to urge Chinese leader Xi Jinping to rein in North Korea when they hold their first face-to-face meeting at next week鈥檚 G20 summit.
Biden touched down in Phnom Penh for meetings with Southeast Asian leaders ahead of his encounter with his Chinese counterpart on Monday in Bali.
The meeting between the two superpowers comes after a record-breaking spate of missile tests by North Korea sent fears soaring that the reclusive state would soon conduct its seventh nuclear test.
In Monday鈥檚 meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Biden will tell Xi that China 鈥� Pyongyang鈥檚 biggest ally 鈥� has 鈥渁n interest in playing a constructive role in restraining North Korea鈥檚 worst tendencies,鈥� US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
Biden will also tell Xi that if North Korea鈥檚 missile and nuclear build-up 鈥渒eeps going down this road, it will simply mean further enhanced American military and security presence in the region.鈥�
Sullivan said Biden would not make demands on China but rather give Xi 鈥渉is perspective.鈥�
This is that 鈥淣orth Korea represents a threat not just to the United States, not just to (South Korea) and Japan but to peace and stability across the entire region.鈥�
Whether China wants to increase pressure on North Korea is 鈥渙f course up to them,鈥� Sullivan said.
However, with North Korea rapidly ramping up its missile capacities, 鈥渢he operational situation is more acute in the current moment,鈥� Sullivan said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida added his voice to calls for concerted international action to halt Pyongyang鈥檚 missile program during talks with ASEAN, China and South Korea.
Tokyo and Seoul have been increasingly alarmed by the North Korean testing blitz, which included an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Biden and Xi, the leaders of the world鈥檚 two biggest economies, have spoken by phone multiple times since Biden became president in January 2021.
But the COVID-19 pandemic and Xi鈥檚 subsequent aversion to foreign travel have prevented them from meeting in person.
The pair are not short of topics to discuss, with Washington and Beijing at loggerheads over issues ranging from trade to human rights in China鈥檚 Xinjiang region and the status of the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged the two sides to work together, warning Friday of 鈥渁 growing risk that the global economy will be divided into two parts, led by the two biggest economies 鈥� the United States and China.鈥�
Before the G20, Biden will push the US鈥檚 commitment to Southeast Asia in meetings with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), seeking to counter Beijing鈥檚 influence in the region.
China has been flexing its muscles 鈥� through trade, diplomacy and military clout 鈥� in recent years in a region it sees as its strategic backyard.
Biden flew into Phnom Penh with an agenda emphasising his administration鈥檚 policy of 鈥渆levating鈥� the US presence in the region as a guarantor of stability, Sullivan said.
Biden will argue for 鈥渢he need for freedom of navigation for lawful, unimpeded commerce, and for ensuring that the United States is playing a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the region.鈥�
Biden and Xi both go into the G20 buoyed by recent domestic political success: Biden鈥檚 party having earned surprisingly strong midterm results and Xi having secured a landmark third term as China鈥檚 leader.
At last month鈥檚 Communist Party Congress, where he was anointed as chief again, Xi warned of a challenging geopolitical climate without mentioning the United States by name, as he wove a narrative of China鈥檚 鈥渋nevitable鈥� triumph over adversity.
The G20 summit will be the latest step in a diplomatic re-emergence for Xi after the pandemic 鈥� it comes less than a fortnight after he hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing.
As well as Biden, Xi will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron before heading to Bangkok later in the week for the APEC summit.
Notably absent from the summit will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been shunned by the West over his invasion of Ukraine, and who is instead sending Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov will press Moscow鈥檚 view that the United States is 鈥渄estabilizing鈥� the Asia-Pacific region with a confrontational approach, the Russian TASS news agency reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the G20 virtually, after his request to address the ASEAN gathering was turned down.