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REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. budget wrangling could further delay funding approval for new agreements with Pacific island nations meant to counter Chinese influence, creating an opportunity for Beijing in the strategically vital region, congressional and other sources say. But congressional sources say this looks impossible as lawmakers argue over spending priorities, raising concerns that a further delay could create an opening for China, which has been wooing financially strapped Pacific economies. "It's feeling pretty dead in the NDAA context," the source said, adding that focus had turned to finding other legislation to secure the COFA funding. "It is really incomprehensible given the amount we're talking about ... why Congress cannot get its act together," Yun said. "What we risk is China getting in where we really don't want them – in places like Palau, RMI, FSM.

Persons: Mike Pompeo, Jonathan Ernst, Biden, Mike Johnson's, Joseph Yun, Yun, David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle, Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S, Pohnpei International, REUTERS, Rights, Federated, Marshall, RMI, Washington, Free Association, National Defense, Reuters, Republicans, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, New Republican, Biden, State Department, White House National Security Council, Thomson Locations: Pohnpei, Kolonia, States, Micronesia, Pacific, Beijing, Federated States, Palau, China, Ukraine, U.S, Hawaii, Philippines, Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on Wednesday before a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, seeking to reduce friction in what many see as the world's most dangerous rivalry. But they have met only once in person since then and Xi has not visited the United States since 2017 when Donald Trump was president. In a separate dinner with business leaders, the Chinese president will also been looking to boost flagging investment by U.S. firms in China. Biden is also expected urge China to use its influence with Iran to not broaden the conflict in the Middle East.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Xi, Donald Trump, Biden, Richard Fontaine, There's, Trump, David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Don Durfee, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, East China Seas, U.S, Washington's Center, New, New American Security, APEC, Thomson Locations: Bali , Indonesia, San Francisco, United States, San Francisco Bay, Ukraine, North, Russia, Taiwan, U.S, China, South, East, Philippines, Washington, Iran, New American

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on Wednesday before a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, seeking to reduce friction in what many see as the world's most dangerous rivalry. But they have met only once in person since then, and Xi, who arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday evening, had not visited the United States since 2017 when Donald Trump was president. The White House says the aim of the summit, to be held at an unannounced location in the San Francisco Bay Area, is to boost communication to prevent an intense rivalry from veering into conflict. In a separate dinner with business leaders, the Chinese president will be looking to boost flagging investment by U.S. firms in China.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Xi, Donald Trump, Biden, Richard Fontaine, There's, Trump, David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Don Durfee, Grant McCool, Leslie Adler Organizations: REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, East China Seas, U.S, Washington's Center, New, New American Security, APEC, Thomson Locations: Bali , Indonesia, San Francisco, United States, San Francisco Bay, Ukraine, North, Russia, Taiwan, U.S, China, South, East, Philippines, Washington, Iran, New American

[1/7] Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at San Francisco International Airport to attend the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 14, 2023. He is due to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at an undisclosed location in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday morning and then attend the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who with Blinken opened the APEC ministerial session, said the San Francisco meeting came at a time of "great uncertainty and challenges" for the region. As Biden arrived in San Francisco, shortly before Xi was due to land, dueling demonstrators greeted the U.S. president's motorcade from the airport. Earlier on Tuesday, a small aircraft flew circles over the APEC summit venue in downtown San Francisco, trailing a banner that read "END CCP FREE CHINA FREE HK FREE TIBET FREE UIGHUR," referring to China's treatment of Uyghurs, which the Biden administration calls "genocide."

Persons: Xi Jinping, Brittany Hosea, Antony Blinken, Xi, Joe Biden, Biden, Janet Yellen, China Nicholas Burns, Blinken, Katherine Tai, John Kirby, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Martina, Ann Saphir, David Brunnstrom, Trevor Hunnicutt, David Lawder, Chris Reese, Josie Kao Organizations: San Francisco International Airport, APEC, Economic Cooperation, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, U.S, San Francisco Bay Area, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Air China, . Trade, San, White House, Biden, China, Chinese Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, U.S, United States, Beijing, San Francisco Bay, Air, China, Washington, San Francisco, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, CHINA, TIBET

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. "This is going to overshadow anything that happens at APEC," said Oriana Skylar Mastro, a Stanford University China expert. Biden will welcome other APEC leaders - including from Vietnam, the Philippines, Canada and Mexico - and both he and Xi will be playing to the gallery. "Our door is open to any country or economy facing PRC (People's Republic of China) economic coercive threats," Melanie Hart, a senior China policy adviser at the State Department, said on Monday. That would include "companies flocking to meet with Xi Jinping and have dinner with him," he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Oriana Skylar Mastro, Xi, Biden, Victor Cha, Washington, Matthew Goodman, Goodman, Janet Yellen, Melanie Hart, Donald Trump, Jude Blanchette, Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Trevor Hunnicutt, Laurie Chen, Michelle Nichols, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, San, Economic Cooperation, U.S, APEC, Stanford University China, Biden, Beijing, Washington's Center, Strategic, International Studies, China, Protesters, White, Treasury, Washington, People's, State Department, Pew Research, Prosperity, CSIS, Thomson Locations: Bali , Indonesia, San Francisco, Asia, Bali, Beijing, China, China . U.S, Washington, Taiwan, South China, Vietnam, Philippines, Canada, Mexico, U.S, People's Republic of China

Washington-based analysts say Wang's return to the ministry should help China's foreign ministry resume normal operations after weeks of international speculation about Qin's fate. In the Chinese system, the top diplomat is not foreign minister but rather the director of the Chinese Communist Party's foreign affairs commission, a role Wang will continue to hold. Still, Wang's reappointment is a sign of problems in China's foreign policy establishment, said Blanchette. On Tuesday, content mentioning Qin was quickly removed from China's foreign ministry website after Wang's appointment. The tab on the website that typically holds the biography of the foreign minister simply read "Updating."

Persons: Wang Yi, Qin Gang, Xi Jinping's, Qin, Xi, Wang, Joseph Torigian, Vedant Patel, Blinken, Joe Biden, Rorry Daniels, Wang's, China's, Jude Blanchette, Craig Singleton, Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Don Durfee Organizations: Communist, American University, U.S . State Department, U.S, APEC, Asia Society Policy Institute, Communist Party, Washington's Center, Strategic, International Studies, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Thomson Locations: Washington, United States, Beijing, U.S, China, China's, Xi's, India, California, Taiwan, scold Washington, Lincoln

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The United States expects a greater partnership with India in the South China Sea, where China has been at the center of numerous territorial disputes with regional countries, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia said on Wednesday. Asked whether India would have a growing role in the South China Sea and greater cooperation with the U.S. there, Kritenbrink said "Yes," adding that there would be greater collaboration among a group of regional powers - the U.S., India, Japan and Australia - known as the Quad. "Large countries should not bully smaller ones," he added, referring to China's disputes with other South China Sea claimants. "If the U.S. really cares about the stability of the South China Sea and wants to avoid accidents, I think it needs to stop the reconnaissance operations against China," Liu Pengyu told a news briefing. Though not a South China Sea claimant, India has in recent years stepped up security ties in the region, signaling its intent to play a bigger role in efforts to counter China.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Daniel Kritenbrink, Kritenbrink, Liu Pengyu, Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Kanishka Singh, Alistair Bell Organizations: United, East Asia, Indian, Washington's Center, Strategic, International Studies, U.S, Washington, China, Thomson Locations: India, South China, China, East, United States, Washington, The U.S, South, U.S, Japan, Australia, Vietnam

Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Tuesday Washington was very concerned about China's recent "punitive" action toward some U.S. companies, and that foreign firms are delaying investments in the country due to uncertainty about the openness of its economy. "If you put that together with some of the punitive actions that the government here in Beijing has taken against several American companies recently, we're very concerned about this," Burns said, adding: "We intend to have a full discussion with the government here about it." China's foreign ministry said at the time Mintz was suspected of engaging in unlawful business operations. Burns said a lot of foreign firms were delaying making major investments until they could see some consistency in messaging from China. He said he had warned American companies to carefully abide by a U.S. law that prohibits importing goods from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor by Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

LOS ANGELES, April 5 (Reuters) - Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is set to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in the first such meeting on U.S. soil, a plan that has drawn threats of retaliation from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own. It will be the highest-level meeting with a Taiwanese president on U.S. soil since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. A meeting in California is seen as a potentially less provocative alternative to McCarthy visiting Taiwan, something he has said he hopes to do. Washington called on China not to overreact, portraying Tsai's stopovers as routine and a normal part of its unofficial relationship with Taiwan. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a regular news briefing on Tuesday Tsai's transit was "private" and "unofficial."

LOS ANGELES, April 4 (Reuters) - China, Taiwan, and the United States all share a common interest in ensuring this week's California stopover by Taiwan's president gets the focus each thinks it deserves, but without setting off a new crisis. It is sure to elicit a forceful reaction from Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory. McCarthy, as House speaker, is third in line to the U.S. leadership and he has said publicly that he does not rule out a future visit to Taiwan. Xu Xueyuan, charge d'affaires at China's Washington embassy, said last week that McCarthy meeting Tsai "could lead to another serious confrontation in the China-U.S. With an eye the Taiwan election, China invited former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT party for a visit coinciding with Tsai's U.S. stopovers.

"This is not a good moment for American diplomacy," said William Kirby, a professor of Chinese studies at Harvard University. A source familiar with that conversation called it the most antagonistic U.S.-China engagement since contentious talks in Alaska early in the Biden administration. Name me one," Biden said in his speech, evidently referring to a host of domestic and foreign policy challenges facing China. However, Biden is likely to find Xi emboldened in any call after a Chinese-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and his meetings with Putin. Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China must be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Monday, after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The department made its judgment with "low confidence" in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress, the Journal said, citing people who had read the intelligence report. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday there were a "variety of views in the intelligence community" on the pandemic's origins. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - China's flight of a suspected surveillance balloon over the United States appears to mark a more aggressive - albeit puzzling - espionage tactic than relying on satellites and the theft of industrial and defense secrets, security experts said. Both the United States and China have for decades used surveillance satellites to keep an eye on each other from the air. The uproar over the balloon comes as China has been building up its military capabilities and challenging America's military presence in the Pacific. The United States also believes Beijing routinely seeks to capture proprietary information and knowledge from U.S. companies. It has previously rebuffed accusations of espionage and said the United States holds a Cold War mentality and hypes up the 'China threat.'

[1/2] Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. "If Taiwan falls into the sphere of influence of CCP, then the beacon of democracy will be destroyed. Speaking through a translator, You said about 50% of global shipping used the Taiwan Strait between the island and China, "so it has very important economic significance for the global trade." "And ... Taiwan has produced the best semiconductor chips and will be very important for global trade as well," he said. "So if Taiwan cannot be safeguarded very carefully, it will be very dangerous to global trade as well as global peace."

Kishida said in a speech at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies that China was the central challenge for both Japan and the United States. "It is absolutely imperative for Japan, the United States and Europe to stand united in managing our respective relationship with China," he added. "The international community is at a historical turning point: the free, open and stable international order that we have dedicated ourselves to upholding is now in grave danger," Kishida said. China's vision for the international order differs from the views of Japan and the United States in some ways that the allies "can never accept," Kishida said. "China needs to make a strategic decision that it will abide by established international rules and that it cannot and will not change the international order in way that are contrary to these rules," Kishida said.

Tokyo Electron (8035.T), Japan's leading chip manufacturing equipment maker, relies on China for about a quarter of its revenue. The other top producers of chip-making gear are the United States and the Netherlands, home to ASML (ASML.AS), another of the world's biggest makers of chip-making tools. SEEKING A DEALU.S. officials are quick to play down the differences between the United States, Japan and other allies. But unless Japan and the Netherlands impose their own export controls, China will soon perfect other ways of getting the equipment it needs, even as American companies stand to lose market share. "For better or worse, Japan's semiconductor strategy is moving in accordance with what the United States wants."

The White House said earlier in the week that China had not asked the United States for vaccines. One U.S. official told Reuters there was "no expectation at present" that China would approve western vaccines. "It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point. Amid a record year for missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last week his country intends to have the world's most powerful nuclear force. He said China had considerable leverage to press North Korea over its weapons tests, but that he was not optimistic about Beijing "doing anything helpful to stabilize the region."

"U.S. prosperity and security depend on the Pacific region remaining free and open," it said, noting that Pacific island countries faced urgent challenges, most notably from the climate crisis, but also heightened geopolitical tensions. Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific island states are taking part in the summit. read moreThe official also said Biden would designate career diplomat Frankie Reed as the first U.S. envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. The U.S. strategy document says the United States would partner with Pacific islands to help them adapt to and manage the climate crisis, an "existential threat" to their lives, health, and livelihoods. Strategic competition in the Pacific intensified dramatically this year after China signed a security agreement with the Solomons, prompting warnings of militarization of the region.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterU.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have underscored this year that the United States does not support Taiwan independence. "It is incoherent to argue that America's Taiwan policy has not changed while also claiming that the U.S. has a commitment to fight for Taiwan and that Taiwan makes its own judgments about independence," said Craig Singleton, a China policy expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. read more"The President directly affirmed the United States' longstanding one China policy," said Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for Biden's National Security Council. 'PRECISION OF LANGUAGE'Taiwan's Foreign Ministry responded to Biden's remarks by expressing its "sincere appreciation" for his staunch support of the island. "One issue where the precision of language is paramount is the discourse on our Taiwan policy," Blanchette said.

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