The American “Bloomberg” news network, quoting well-informed sources, stated that US President Joe Biden will hold a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, next week, but the sources did not reveal a specific day that has been set for the meeting yet.
Bloomberg quoted the two anonymous sources as saying that talks are still underway regarding setting a day for holding the virtual summit, and one of them indicated that the meeting will not address the issue of reopening the US Consulate in Chengdu and the Chinese Consulate in Houston, which were closed last year due to political tension between the two countries.
On the other hand, White House and State Department spokesmen did not respond to Bloomberg Network's requests for comment on the matter.
Bloomberg pointed out that the virtual meeting comes in light of the improvement in relations between Washington and Beijing in recent months, in spite of complicated disputes over Taiwan and rising concerns in Washington about the expansion of China's nuclear weapons arsenal.
Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre confirmed that there is an "agreement in principle" to hold a meeting "before the end of the year."
She explained that this comes as part of "continuing efforts to manage competition between our two countries responsibly." She added that the meeting was not concerned with searching for "specific outcomes".
The White House said earlier that it wants to upgrade the talks to the level of leaders, in the hope that the two presidents can agree on guarantees that the competition between the United States and China does not turn into an armed conflict, according to “Bloomberg.”
However, The US Naval Institute (USNI) has released satellite images of full-size models of the aircraft carrier “Gerald R. Ford” and the destroyer “Arleigh Burke” lined up in the Taklamakan Desert in central China.
The site where the “American Fleet” appeared is located next to the test site where the People’s Liberation Army tested early versions of the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile. The images show that China continues to focus on aircraft carrier combat and attack ships.
Moreover, unlike the other “American aircraft carrier” built by the Iranian Navy in the Gulf, the Chinese model is well-equipped with measuring equipment. One of the objects seen from the satellite resembles the surface of an aircraft carrier.
Others look like detailed life-size models of warships, including movable ones – one platform is installed on rails with a six-meter track, reports “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, a Russian-spoken magazine.
Comparing satellite images over the past few years, USNI experts came to the conclusion that the “fleet” appeared in the Chinese desert in 2019, and then was significantly rebuilt several times. This is not the first “American aircraft carrier” is displayed in central China.
In 2003, the People’s Liberation Army built a concrete deck the size of a Nimitz-class ship and repeatedly launched missile strikes against it. But the new targets are very similar to the ships that were envisioned.
However, observers believe that these models reflect China’s efforts to build capabilities to confront US aircraft carriers, in particular, amid continuing tension with Washington over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
According to the latest Pentagon annual report on the Chinese military, China’s missile forces conducted its first confirmed live firing launch in the South China Sea in July 2020, when it fired six DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles into waters north of the Spratly Islands, where China has territorial disputes with Taiwan and four countries in Southeast Asia.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed last July that the United States would defend the Philippines if it was attacked in the South China Sea and demanded that China stop its “provocative behavior.
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