Biden, Xi agree to curb fentanyl production, resume military communications

SAN FRANCISCO — President Joe Biden said during a news conference on Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached key agreements on curbing the production of fentanyl and resuming military-to-military contact.

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The president also said that the United States and China “are going to work together” on addressing the risks of artificial intelligence.

The president spoke after he and Xi met for approximately four hours in San Francisco.

“We’re back to direct, open, clear, direct communications,” Biden said about military contact between the two nations. “Vital miscalculations on either side can cause real, real trouble with a country like China or any other major country.”

China had severed military communications in August 2022, angered over then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, The Washington Post reported.

The two leaders, who have not spoken by telephone since last year’s summit in Bali, met at the historic Filoli estate in San Francisco, according to the newspaper.

Biden called his encounter with Xi one of the “most constructive and productive meetings we’ve had.”

Asked if he trusted the Chinese leader, Biden dusted off the old Russian proverb notably used during the 1980s by then-President Ronald Reagan -- “trust, but verify.”

“That’s where I am,” Biden said. “We haven’t always agreed. I know the man, I know his modus operandi, but he was straight with me.”

It was only the third solo news conference that Biden has held this year.

The two leaders walked through the Filoli gardens in what was called a relaxed, at times jocular meeting. Their rendezvous took place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference, the AP reported.

Then they got down to business in more serious talks inside.

In return for China’s move to curb fentanyl production, Biden was expected to lift restrictions on China’s forensic police institute, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The Biden administration has also accused the Chinese of repressing and imprisoning Uyghurs, a minority ethnic group in the Xinjiang region, according to the newspaper.

The two leaders also discussed foreign policy issues, including the situation in Taiwan and the war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas militants.

Biden told reporters during the news conference that he remained committed to the “one-China” policy but added that the U.S. remained committed to defending Taiwan.

The two superpowers have had a prickly relationship since last year’s Group of 20 summit. That included the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon that flew over the continental United States in late January and early February.

That caused the cancellation of a trip to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.