CAPE TOWN – Following a successful climate change agreement at the two-week Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, China and the United States (US) look to further ease tensions between the two nations.
The two superpowers are set to hold a virtual meeting on Monday in the midst of growing concerns over Taiwan, nuclear non-proliferations, cyber security as well as the US’s trilateral security pact with Australia and the United Kingdom (AUKUS).
According to the BBC, the White House has released a statement on Friday saying the two leaders will discuss a way to responsibly manage competition between the two and further work together where their interests align.
Taiwan will be a hot topic as the US officials have said they have a policy in place to defend Taiwan and provide its military with arms defence training. US President Joe Biden is likely to request its counterpart to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait.
On the opposite end, the US has made it clear they are concerned about China’s weapons tests over the past months.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV last month, US general Mark Milley said China’s military has expanded rapidly and that their tests were a “very significant technological event”.
“What we saw was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system… I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” Milley said.
Meanwhile, communications between the two started to improve in October with Chinese leader Xi Jinping saying in a recent statement that the Asia-Pacific region cannot relapse into the confrontation of the Cold War era.
– African News Agency (ANA); Edited by Naomi Mackay