US officials planning for possible Biden-Xi phone call: Administration official

WASHINGTON (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - Senior US officials are having discussions about a possible phone call between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping this summer, an administration official said on Thursday (June 16).

The disclosure came just days after Mr Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan held 4½ hours of talks in Luxembourg with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi about a host of issues.

Mr Biden and Mr Xi last spoke on March 18, a conversation dominated by US concerns that China might provide material support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, concerns are rising that North Korea might be planning a nuclear test.

"There's a discussion about possible Biden-Xi engagement, but we don't have anything planned or confirmed at this time," said an administration official.

One source familiar with planning said a potential summer call could come as soon as July but any in-person meeting of the two leaders would wait until after China's Communist Party congress late in the year.

Top Biden administration officials have emphasised the importance of putting "guard rails" on the relationship with Beijing to prevent disagreements from escalating into crisis.

Taiwan, Ukraine, and human rights are among the many sore points in US-China relations, and the two nations have been jockeying for greater influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We want stability in the relationship - that takes connecting," US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Thursday at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution when asked about the state of play between the countries.

"Of course, our ultimate channel is the channel between our two presidents. So we're conducting intensive diplomacy."