Kamala Harris met with China President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok on Saturday. Harris posted a photo of the meeting with a brief caption. China issued a formal readout claiming the meeting was held at the request of Harris.
Harris, “Today in Bangkok, I greeted President Xi before the APEC Leaders Retreat. I noted a key message that President Biden emphasized in his November 14 meeting with President Xi: we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries.”
Readout by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China(via Google cache):
President Xi Jinping Has a Brief Exchange with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris2022-11-19 13:22
On 19 November local time, President Xi Jinping had a brief exchange with Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States at the latter’s request on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok.
President Xi said that his meeting with President Joe Biden in Bali is strategic and constructive, and carries important significance in guiding China-U.S. relations going forward. He expressed the hope that the two sides will further increase mutual understanding, reduce misperception and miscalculation, and work together to bring China-U.S. relations back on the track of healthy and steady development. It is hoped that Vice President Harris would play a positive role in this regard.
Vice President Harris noted that the presidential meeting is a success. She underlined that the U.S. side does not seek confrontation or conflict with China, and that the two sides need to work together on global issues and keep lines of communication open.
Harris announced on Friday that San Francisco will host the 2023 APEC meeting:
It is my pleasure to announce that, as part of the United States’ 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Host Year, we will convene the APEC Leaders Meeting in San Francisco, California, the week of November 12. President Biden and I look forward to welcoming APEC Leaders to San Francisco next year and to a successful meeting where we will promote economic growth and prosperity for the American people, and people throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
As I told APEC Leaders in Bangkok, Thailand, at the 2022 APEC Leaders Meeting, there is no better place to host APEC 2023 than California, a state known for economic innovation.
Our host year will demonstrate the enduring economic commitment of the United States to the Indo-Pacific. As I have made clear throughout my time in Bangkok: under our Administration, the United States is a strong partner for the economies and companies of the Indo-Pacific, and we are working to strengthen our economic relationships throughout the region, including by increasing two-way trade flows and the free flow of capital, which supports millions of American jobs.
During our host year, the United States will continue to focus on sustainable economic growth, building on the strong foundation Thailand has set in 2022. In particular, we will work with APEC economies to make new sustainability and decarbonization commitments.
Harris has been acting ‘presidential’ during the APEC meeting:
“Today in Bangkok, I convened leaders from Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to condemn the DPRK’s ballistic missile launch and consult on next steps. I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances…We strongly condemn the long-range ballistic missile launch by North Korea, and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts.”