Biden to Jingping:'Guardrails' needed to prevent conflict

US President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping opened a virtual summit Monday with an appeal for better communication between the superpowers and "guardrails" to avoid conflict. Speaking from the White House to Xi on a television screen, Biden said they must develop "guardrails" to "ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended." He said they would have a "candid" discussion. 

Xi, speaking from Beijing, called Biden "my old friend," but said the rivals must work more closely. "China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation," he said. The two leaders have spoken by phone twice since Biden's inauguration in January but with Xi refusing to travel abroad because of the pandemic, an online video meeting was the only option short of an in-person summit. Most of the attention in the build-up to the meeting has focused on the sparring over Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy claimed by China. Biden's aides have cast the summit as an opportunity to help prevent tensions from escalating. However, the White House sought to temper expectations, with the official saying that the summit "is not a meeting where we expect deliverables to be coming out."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden was going into the summit, expected to last a couple of hours, "from a position of strength," after months of rebuilding alliances with other democracies to contain China. The meeting is "an opportunity to set the terms of the competition with China" and to insist the leadership in Beijing "play by the rules of the road," Psaki said. Most of the attention in the build-up to the meeting has focused on the sparring over Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy claimed by China. Biden's aides have cast the summit as an opportunity to help prevent tensions from escalating. However, the White House sought to temper expectations, with the official saying that the summit "is not a meeting where we expect deliverables to be coming out."