Biden ‘disappointed’ China’s Xi Jinping is skipping G20 summit
President Biden says he is “disappointed” that Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to skip the Group of 20 summit next week.
Instead, Xi is set to send Premier Li Qiang to the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, on his behalf.
“I am disappointed, but I’m gonna get to see [Jinping]” at some point, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Sunday.
China has not said why Xi is missing the summit, but Reuters has reported that the move stems from China’s frayed relations with India over their shared border.
Biden is set to attend the summit from Sept. 7 to Sept. 10.
From there, he will head to Alaska — as he makes his way back to the states from India — to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Critics including former New York Gov. George Pataki — who was the state’s governor on 9/11 — have ripped Biden for not being at any of the actual attacked US sites, including at the World Trade Centers in Manhattan, for the day.
Xi and Biden crossed paths at the prior G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November of last year.
China has been grappling with a sputtering economy at home.
Relations between the two superpowers also have plummeted over recent years, although the Biden administration has begun making overtures.
Last week, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo completed her Aug. 27 to Aug. 30 trip to Beijing and Shanghai, in which she met with a slew of Chinese officials.
That marked the first time a US commerce secretary visited China in nearly five years.
Raimondo touted a more streamlined communication process with China as the main accomplishment of her visit.
But she also cautioned that she was a “realist” on China and that it was too early for trust.
In addition to Raimondo’s visit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to China in June, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went in July.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, said during a press conference Monday, “The G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation.
“China has all along attached great importance to and taken an active part in G20 events.”
Both India and China have feuded over their shared border, exacerbated by the skirmish in the Ladakh region that left 20 Indian soldiers dead in 2020.
The two countries have expelled journalists and built up their military forces on both sides of the border.
India surpassed China as the most populous nation in the world earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the US has sought to court stronger ties with India.
“While in New Delhi, the president will also commend Prime Minister Modi’s leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026,” the White House said in a statement.
