‘Testing the waters’: US senators want to meet with Xi Jinping during China trip

A group of bipartisan lawmakers seek to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing as U.S.-China relations continue to deteriorate, NBC News reported on Thursday.

The delegation will travel to Beijing to meet with officials over topics including trade, economic issues, national security and the fentanyl crisis in the U.S., which China has played a major role in, according to NBC News. A meeting with Xi himself is unconfirmed, but the lawmakers feel it could help set the stage for a potential meeting with President Joe Biden later this year.

“I don’t think that that’s clear yet whether it will happen,” Republican Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo said about a meeting with Xi. “We want to meet with a number of the officials there as well as the American business community there as well, and we would like to meet with President Xi.”

Among those going on the trip are Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff. The delegation will also travel to South Korea and Japan during their 10-day trip, which is set to take place during the Senate’s October recess next week.

“The main reason I’m going on this trip, aside from the fact that Sen. Schumer asked me, is because I want to meet with President Xi,” Kennedy said. “If you meet with anyone else, it would be an overstatement to say it’s a waste of time, but it’s certainly a less prudent use of your time because President Xi has all the power — he’s the most powerful person in the country since Mao.”

China has been cold to recent American diplomatic efforts as it continues to aggressively expand its military and bolster its economy against the U.S., even as Biden administration officials plead for cooperation. Biden could meet with Xi at the Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in November, and then in a separate but unconfirmed meeting later this year, in a “Hail Mary” effort to try and stabilize relations between the two countries.

“I don’t think President Xi has agreed to meet with us because of our winning personalities,” Kennedy said. “I think it has something to do with testing the waters and preparation for his meeting with President Biden in November.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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