The first meeting in eight years between the Chinese president and U.S. Senate leadership included a focus on the Middle East. The session was part of a bipartisan trip across the region. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer said he urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to directly criticize Hamas for its weekend attack on Israel — including killing and kidnapping civilians.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers visiting Beijing also asked Xi to use China’s influence with Iran to keep the violence from spreading.
Discussions also ranged from fair treatment of U.S. business interests to the Chinese production of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.
Before the trip, Schumer's office said the goal was “advancing U.S. economic and national security interests” in the region, while also talking about areas for potential cooperation with China.
The 6-person group, evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, will also be visiting South Korea and Japan.
But China was a significant stop. It was not even confirmed that the group would meet with Xi, but after it happened, the meeting received much publicity in China’s state-run media.
It also sets up a broader diplomatic question for next month: whether Xi will meet with President Biden when the United States hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in San Francisco — which starts five weeks from this Wednesday.
