US Biden believes midterm elections strengthened his position ahead of meeting Chinese Xi

Joe Biden believes that the favourable results of the US midterm elections for his party in the senate are bolstering his position amid his upcoming meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping.

He gave this remark during a press conference at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, as reported on the White House Administration's website, which is currently held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

When asked about whether he feels stronger going into the meeting with Xi after the elections, he responded by saying, that, "I know I’m coming in stronger, but I don’t need that. [...] I’ve spent more time with him than any other world leader. [...] we have very little misunderstanding. We just got to figure out where the red lines are and what we — what are the most important things to each of us going into the next two years. And his circumstance has changed, to state the obvious, at home".

The US president further stressed that he has always had "straightforward discussions" with Xi and that there has never been any "miscalculation about where each of us stands", which he considers to be "critically important" in their relationship.

According to the American NPR, Biden's attendance at this year's ASEAN summit is meant to lay the groundwork for his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which will be their first face-to-face encounter in Biden's presidency.

The two leaders Biden and Xi will meet on November 14 at the G20 summit that brings together heads of government from the world's largest economies, which is held this year in Indonesia on the island of Bali.

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the president will raise issues such as freedom of navigation and illegal and unregulated fishing by China with the ASEAN leaders — aimed at demonstrating US assertiveness against Beijing.