Biden, Xi push to break ice over frosty relations
WASHINGTON/BEIJING: Emboldened by a stronger domestic political hand at both ends, United States President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping, in their first in-person meeting as presidents, candidly conveyed to each other their intentions, priorities and redlines on issues such as the Ukraine war, Taiwan, human rights, trade, and the regional security environment.
With US-China tensions escalating in recent years, Biden said he wanted to ensure that the vigorous competition did not veer towards a conflict and that he was not looking for a new Cold War, while Xi said that the current state of bilateral relations was not in the interest of the two nations. They also agreed to deepen channels of communication across domains between the two countries — Secretary of State Antony J Blinken will travel to Beijing to continue the discussions — and collaborate where possible, including on the climate crisis.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Biden told Xi: “As the leaders of our two nations, we share a responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the
United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation.”
Xi told Biden that it had been 50 years since China and the US had established diplomatic ties, and this history offered lessons. “Currently, the state of China-US relations is not in the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people,” Xi said, and added that it was not “what the international community expects from the two countries either”.
Biden and Xi have spoken to each other five times since the US President took office in January 2021. While they have a decade-old relationship, this was their first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office as president. Both leaders approached the meeting on a stronger domestic political footing. Xi has just emerged from a party congress with an unprecedented third term as president, while Biden has led his party to a better-than-expected performance in midterm elections, with Democrats retaining control of the Senate.
In subsequent remarks to the press, Biden termed the talks as clear, open, candid, and, in response to a question, suggested that there need not be a “new Cold War”, a term that has increasingly come to be used given the strategic, military and technology-based competition between the two countries. Biden said that the two leaders understood each other, and that his biggest concern was that there ought to be no “misunderstanding” about intentions and actions. Biden said he had been “very blunt”, and meant what he said and said what he meant to Xi.
When asked whether he found Xi more confrontational or conciliatory, after consolidating power at home, Biden said he found Xi “direct and straightforward” as he had always been. “Do I think he is willing to compromise on various issues? Yes. He understands that… I think the election held in the US has sent a very strong message around the world that the United States is ready to play.”
In the meeting that lasted a little over three hours, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, both leaders laid out their respective positions on Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the US readout suggesting that both countries opposed the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
A White House readout said: “President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.” A Chinese foreign office statement said that Xi told Biden that China was “highly concerned about the current situation in Ukraine”, and that it had all along stood “on the side of peace and will continue to encourage peace talks”. “We support and look forward to a resumption of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, we hope that the United States, NATO and the EU will conduct comprehensive dialogues with Russia”.
The two leaders discussed Taiwan where tensions have escalated in recent months, with Biden reiterating the US commitment to the one-China policy but warning against any unilateral changes in status quo across the Taiwan straits, while Xi framing the issue as core to Chinese interests. When US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this year over Chinese objections, ties between the two countries plummeted.
PRESIDENT BIDEN AND PRESIDENT XI REITERATED THEIR AGREEMENT THAT A NUCLEAR WAR SHOULD NEVER BE FOUGHT AND CAN NEVER BE WON