The Biden administration remains optimistic about the possibility of a meeting between the US president and Chinese leadership. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan assured CNN that competition between the two nations need not lead to conflict and cited a previous meeting between President Biden and President Xi, where both leaders tried to reach an understanding. Likewise, the administration believes that it is vital to maintain open lines of communication with Beijing, especially between military leaders, and that dialogue must continue despite Beijing’s foreign interference and military preparations in the Indo-Pacific. However, competition between the US and China is ongoing, with cases such as the US shooting down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and the Department of Justice charging two suspected Chinese agents for attempting to bribe officials to undermine the spiritual practice of Falun Gong in the US. Chen and Feng were arrested from their residences in California, marking the first prosecution by US authorities to deter China’s targeting Falun Gong – a practice of meditation that aligns with the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Though the US is pushing for dialogue, there is an awareness of the underlying competition at play.