Biden wants to set ‘guardrails’ in Xi talks: White House

Nusa Dua, Indonesia: President Joe Biden wants his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday in Indonesia to repair lines of communication and help establish “guardrails” to keep the superpowers from conflict, US officials said.

“We are in competition. President Biden embraces that but he wants to make sure that that competition is bounded, that we build guardrails, that we have clear rules of the road and that we do all of that to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict,” a senior White House official said.

The official, one of two briefing reporters ahead of the meeting in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit, said Biden has the backing of “allies and partners” for his approach.

“There is broad support for our determination to build the floor under the relationship to increase communications responsibly,” the official said.