BIDEN, XI HOPE TO RESOLVE DIFFERENCES AHEAD OF G20
The world leaders shook hands as they met at a hotel in Indonesia, where they are attending the Group of 20 summit
BALI: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met on Monday for long-awaited talks amid their lowest relations in decades owing to disagreements over a host of issues, including Taiwan. The two, holding their first in-person talks since Biden became president met ahead of the G20 (G20) summit starting Tuesday.
“As the leaders of our two nation, we share responsibility... to show that China and the US can manage our differences... and find ways to work together on urgent, global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” said Biden. “I look forward to working with you to bring China-US relations back on track,” Xi told Biden.
NUSA DUA, INDONESIA: Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping voiced hope on Monday that the US and China can manage growing differences and avoid conflict as they met for the first time in more than three years.
They smiled as they shook hands warmly in front of a row of Chinese and US flags in a ballroom at the luxury hotel Mulia on Bali’s Nusa Dua bay.
“It’s just great to see you,” Biden told Xi as he put an arm around him, adding in remarks delivered in front of reporters that he was committed to keeping lines of communication open on a personal and government level.
“As the leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from ... turning into conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” he said.
Responding to Biden, Xi said the relationship between their two countries was not meeting global expectations.
“So we need to chart the right course for the China-US relationship. We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship,” Xi said.
“The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship,” he said, adding he looked forward to working with Biden to bring the relationship back on the right track.
Both men entered the highly anticipated meeting with bolstered political standing at home. Democrats triumphantly held onto control of the US Senate, with a chance to boost their ranks by one in a run-off election in Georgia next month, while Xi was awarded a third five-year term in October by the Communist Party’s national congress, a break with tradition.
Despite the upbeat public statements, both nations are increasingly suspicious of each other, with the United States fearing that China has stepped up a timeline for seizing Taiwan.
US officials said ahead of the meeting that Biden hoped to set up “guardrails” in the relationship with China and to assess how to avoid “red lines” that could push the world’s two largest economies into conflict.
The Taiwan factor
The US has been stepping up support for Taiwan, while China has ramped up its threats to seize control of the island. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, China reacted by staging unprecedented military drills.
On the eve of his talks with Xi, Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Cambodia, with the three leaders jointly calling for “peace and stability” on the Taiwan Strait.
Biden is also expected to push China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests has raised fears that Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.
US officials said there have been quiet efforts by both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to repair ties.
US treasury secretary Janet Yellen told reporters in Bali earlier that the meeting was “intended to stabilise the relationship between the US and China, and to create a more certain atmosphere for US businesses”.
She said that Biden had been clear with China about national security concerns regarding restrictions on sensitive US technologies and had raised concern about the reliability of Chine supply chains for commodities like minerals.
First in-person exchange
Xi is paying only his second overseas visit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and will meet a number of key leaders.
He will hold the first formal sitdown with an Australian leader since 2017, PM Anthony Albanese announced, following a concerted pressure campaign by Beijing against the close US ally.
Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday the difficult issues at the summit include climate change, global economy, security, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Lee added he does not expect breakthrough on any of key issues at G20, but hope to reach consensus on most issues on the general direction to move ahead.
He was responding to media queries at a joint news conference in Singapore with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The G20 comprises 19 major advanced and emerging economies and the European Union. Singapore is not a G20 member, but has been invited to participate in many past G20 summits and related meetings.