President Joe Biden received China’s new ambassador to the U.S. at the White House, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement, the latest in a series of meetings between officials of the two largest economies to normalize strained ties.
Ambassador Xie Feng, who arrived in Washington in May, presented his credentials to Biden at the Oval Office on Friday, according to the statement. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Even before the formal step of presenting himself at the White House, Xie criticized Biden’s off-the-cuff remarks at a donor event on June 20 in which the president referred to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator. Beijing called the comments a political provocation, just after a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the country earlier this month. Still, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is poised to travel to China this month, Bloomberg has reported.
Xie told Biden that Beijing hopes the U.S. will work with China in the same direction to stabilize and bring their relationship back onto the right track, according to the embassy statement.
Biden said last week his remarks about Xi hadn’t undermined efforts to shore up strained relations with China and he expects to meet with the Chinese leader in the near term.
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(With assistance from Akayla Gardner.)
