Biden calls Chinese President Xi Jinping about U.S.-China relationship
CBSN
In their first conversation in seven months, President Biden spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday evening. This was a call initiated by Mr. Biden and motivated by what is essentially his exasperation that lower-level Chinese officials have been unwilling to hold substantive conversations with his administration.
A senior administration official said that the president wants to keep the channels of communication open so the two countries do not unintentionally "veer into conflict." The intent is to have a strategic conversation about how to manage competition between the two world powers. The official also said phone call was a test — to see if conversations at the very highest level would be more effective, given Xi's consolidation of power. Mr. Biden has repeatedly mentioned his personal familiarity with Xi. He told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell in February, "I had 24-25 hours of private meetings with [Xi] when I was vice president, traveled 17,000 miles with him. I know him pretty well."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.