US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the Democrats’ unexpected success in the midterm elections has put him in a stronger position to take on crucial talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Joe Biden’s party retained control of the US Senate, even obtaining a relative majority, at least 50 seats out of 100, thanks to the success of Nevada Democratic candidate Catherine Cortez Masto announced on Saturday evening. This good result confirms the unexpected success of the party during the mid-term elections, which traditionally result in a rejection of the party in power.
“I feel good and I look forward to the next two years,” Joe Biden said in Phnom Penh, where he is meeting with leaders as part of an East Asia summit. “I know I’m coming stronger,” he told reporters on the eve of his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled in Bali on Monday on the sidelines of the G20. “I know Xi Jinping, he knows me,” he added, saying they always had “frank discussions.”
Longue relation
The pair have a relationship that dates back more than a decade to when Joe Biden was vice president, but on Monday they will meet face-to-face for the first time in their current roles. “We have very few misunderstandings. We just have to determine what the red lines are, ”said the American president.
Joe Biden called Catherine Cortez Masto to congratulate her and also spoke with Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, the White House said. The president said attention now turns to Georgia, where a Dec. 6 runoff will decide the allocation of a Senate seat.