Biden presses Chinas Xi over trade after making major flub at Peru summit

President Joe Biden pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping during a private meeting Saturday on the Republic of China’s unfair trade policies after President-elect Donald Trump made ceasing the country’s trade practices a key part of his winning platform.The outgoing Biden, 81, emphasized how federal officials will take necessary actions to intercept any use of advanced technology that undermines national security of the United States or its allies, the White House said in a statement. Biden met with Xi at the Chinese leader’s hotel for the third and final time of his presidency toward the end of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South America. The private discussion came after Biden made a major flub in his public comments to Xi, calling the relationship between the two countries an “alliance,” before quickly correcting himself. “We are the most important alliance – or the most important relationship in the entire world, and how we’re getting along together can impact the rest of the world,” Biden said, according to multiple outlets. “And so our two countries can not let any of this competition veer into conflict.That’s our responsibility and over the last four years I think we’ve proven it’s possible to have this relationship.”Xi appeared to signal concern that the Republican president-elect could create division between China’s relationship with the US when he takes back control of the White House, according to multiple outlets. “China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through an interpreter. Trump, 78, has threatened to renew his tariff-driven trade war with China, which during his first term, was waged in an attempt to broker a new economic pact that would benefit American companies.Now he’s calling for a universal...