Van Hollen Statement on President Biden’s Meeting with President Xi

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, & International Cybersecurity Policy, released the following statement in advance of President Biden’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC):  

“The rise of a more assertive and aggressive PRC presents strategic challenges that the United States must address. President Biden has taken the right approach on these issues – including advancing U.S. national security interests while pursuing opportunities for diplomacy with China, as exemplified by today. This meeting comes at an important moment in our relationship with China as we seek to reduce the risk of miscalculations by resuming military-to-military communications and making incremental progress on other fronts. I am confident President Biden will press President Xi to reduce the flow of precursor fentanyl chemicals into Mexico, and I urge President Biden to call for the release of wrongfully detained Americans in China. Lastly, as we continue to seek out areas of cooperation like combatting climate change, we must keep working to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses and imprisonment of activists and journalists, preserve the status quo on Taiwan, and urge the PRC to act as a responsible actor on the world stage.”