Xi, Biden aim to avoid a new Cold War

In the wake of their virtual meeting on Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden have made it clear they do not seek a new Cold War.

CAPE TOWN, November 17 (ANA) – In the wake of their virtual meeting on Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden made it clear they do not seek a new Cold War.

The two leaders along with their senior officials held a “candid, constructive and fruitful” meeting in a bid to ease growing tensions after the two superpowers successfully agreed to a climate change agreement at the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the meeting helped increase mutual understanding between the two, which adds positive expectations to the international community.

While the relationship between the world’s two largest economies had deteriorated due to a number of issues which included Taiwan, Hong Kong as well as the Indo-Pacific region, they agreed that an increase in communication and co-operation was critical right now.

“China always opposes a new Cold War in any form,” said Zhao.

“President Biden also made it clear that the US does not seek a new Cold War,” he said.

Zhao added that it was imperative the two sides engage in candid dialogue on a wide range of issues in China-US relations to ensure that competition is healthy and will not veer into conflict or confrontation.

Meanwhile, Zhao said good relations between the two in order to steer China-US relations back on the right track of sound and steady development would be in the interests of the people in both countries and around the world.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Yaron Blecher