‘Low expectations..’ Biden, Xi meet ahead of G20 summit in Bali
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden have met for long-awaited discussions, which come at a time when relations between their countries are at an all-time low, hampered by conflicts over everything from Taiwan to trade.
The two leaders met for the first time since Biden‘s election as president on Monday on the Indonesian island of Bali, ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) conference that is expected to be fraught with tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As they met at the luxurious hotel Mulia on Nusa Dua bay in Bali, Biden and Xi shook hands in front of a row of Chinese and US flags.
“The world has come to a crossroads,” Xi declared, promising a “frank” discussion of problems that have strained relations between the world’s two most powerful nations.
“The world expects China and the United States to manage their relationship appropriately,” he said.
Biden, for his part, greeted Xi with a smile that belied the rising rivalry between the nation that defined the previous century and a rival seeking to define the future.
Biden stated that he wants the United States and China to “manage our differences and keep rivalry from becoming confrontation.”
On the eve of his meeting with Xi, Biden warned Asian leaders in Cambodia that lines of contact with China would be kept open in order to avoid conflict, but that the negotiations would be difficult.
Biden told reporters that he and Xi have “always had straightforward exchanges,” which has kept neither of them from making “miscalculations” about their intentions.
“I know him well, and he knows who I am,” Biden remarked. “We just have to figure out where the red lines are and what is most essential to each of us in the next two years.”
Biden arrived in Bali on Sunday night, as his Democratic Party retained control of the Senate following a better-than-expected performance in the midterm elections.
Xi, who won an unprecedented third term at the Communist Party Congress last month, is China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
‘I have low expectations’
The anticipated talks have received scant coverage in Chinese state media, which has claimed that Xi will also meet with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Senegalese President Macky Sall in bilateral meetings.
“China has minimal expectations, and the best outcome is that the two sides are keeping communication channels open,” Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok, who is in Beijing, said.
The US-China relationship has deteriorated dramatically in recent years due to concerns ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, coercive economic tactics, and US limitations on Chinese technology.
Tensions went even worse after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own and was enraged by Pelosi’s visit, conducting days of air and naval drills near the island after she left.
Biden and Xi have had five phone or video meetings since Biden was elected president in January 2021. They last met in person during the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, urged the Biden administration to “stop politicising” commerce and accept Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan.
Beijing also wants Washington to lift tariffs imposed by outgoing President Donald Trump in 2019 and relax limits on Chinese access to semiconductors and other US technology. Biden has kept the majority of them in place while restricting access to technology that US authorities think can be used in weapon development.
“The United States must stop politicizing, weaponizing, and ideologicalizing trade matters,” Zhao stated during a press conference.
Biden is also expected to push Beijing to be more assertive in dealing with Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Chinese leader has mostly avoided public criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions, and Beijing has abstained from important United Nations votes.
“Of course, we believe that every country in the world should do more to persuade Russia, particularly those with links with Russia, to end this war and leave Ukraine,” said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Officials said Biden will also push China to rein in its partner North Korea after an unprecedented number of missile tests this year and expectations that Pyongyang may conduct its seventh nuclear test soon.
“Beijing has an important role to play in promoting North Korean restraint and incentivizing denuclearization,” said Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, in an email.
“Although the Biden-Xi meeting at the G20 is unlikely to result in rapidly increased cooperation, the foundation for dealing with Pyongyang should not be ‘Cold War 2.0,’ but rather a multilateral defense of the international order.”
