After US shot down Chinese spy balloon earlier this year, American President Joe Biden on Sunday said ties between Washington and Beijing should thaw “very shortly”.
Biden’s statement comes at a time when relations between US and China are at lowest ebb. There has been confrontation between the two countries over supremacy in Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan, Ukraine war and other issues.
As per the report in NDTV, Biden said relations had deteriorated in the months following his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali in November.
US' decision in February to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that overflew the United States sparked a diplomatic spat between the world's two largest economies.
It mentioned a visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken that had been billed as a chance to improve relations was cancelled over the incident.
On Sunday, at a press conference following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden was asked why a planned hotline between the United States and China was not in operation.
"You're right, we should have an open hotline. At the Bali conference, that's what President Xi and I agreed we were going to do and meet on," Biden was quoted as having said.
"And then, this silly balloon that was carrying two freight cars worth of spying equipment was flying over the United States," Biden was mentioned in the report as having said.
"It got shot down and everything changed in terms of talking to one another. I think you're going to see that begin to thaw very shortly,” Biden was quoted as having said.
"It is building its military, and that's why I've made it clear that I am not prepared to trade certain items with China," he was quoted as having said.
"We've now got commitment from all of our allies that they're not going to do that either, provide that kind of material. But that's not a hostile act, that's an act that says, 'we're going to make sure that we do everything we can to maintain the status quo’,” he was quoted as having said.
