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Joe Biden cancels stops on Asia trip because of US debt limit stand-off

  • American president had planned to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after the Group of 7 meeting in Japan
  • But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy criticised the trip while debt limit remains unresolved and as default could occur as early as June

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US President Joe Biden. File photo: Reuters
Robert Delaneyin Washington
US President Joe Biden has taken two destinations off his coming trip to Asia and will return immediately after he attends this week’s Group of 7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, amid building pressure to resolve his showdown with Republicans over America’s debt ceiling.
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“I’m postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders,” Biden said at the White House on Tuesday.

Biden had planned to travel to Papua New Guinea and then to Sydney, Australia, for a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit on May 24. He will instead return to Washington next Sunday.

Biden added: “The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So I’m confident we’re going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling America’s responsibility as a leader on the world stage”.

Following Biden’s announcement, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said the Quad meeting would not go ahead in Sydney. Instead, the leaders of Australia, Japan, India and the US would meet at the G7 in Japan, he said.

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who met with Biden along with other congressional leaders on Tuesday, earlier criticised Biden’s plan to attend the G7.

McCarthy told reporters after the one-hour meeting that a deal would be possible by this weekend, but that negotiations about spending cuts remained “far apart”.

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