US President Joe Biden at his first solo news conference (Photo: Getty)

He said he will insist Chinese leader Xi Jinping “play by the international rules, fair competition, fair practices, fair trade.” But he said the United States is not looking for confrontation with China over differences on trade, issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and military buildup.

Responding to a question about North Korea’s missile launches, Biden said that if North Korea chooses to escalate, the US will respond accordingly. He said he was prepared for “some form of diplomacy” with North Korea, “but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization.”

Biden backed away from a May 1 deadline to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, saying it’s going to be hard to meet the deadline. But he said he does not think the troops will still be there next year.