“No new Cold War,” Biden tells Xi at G20 summit
Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping attempted to defuse their simmering superpower rivalry Monday during a three-hour summit that found common ground on Ukraine but left little doubt about the stark differences that still exist.
Biden emerged from the meeting declaring that there is no need for a new Cold War, as both leaders expressed a desire to keep high tensions from escalating into conflict.
According to a Chinese account of the meeting, Xi told Biden that the two countries “share more, not less, common interests,” sounding more conciliatory than the previous three pandemic-filled years without face-to-face presidential meetings would suggest.
“The world expects China and the United States to maintain their relationship properly,” Xi said.
In an attempt to dispel the notion that China is bent on usurping the US and remaking the world in its own authoritarian image, Xi reportedly stated that Beijing does not seek to challenge the US or “change the existing international order.”
According to the White House, the pair agreed that nuclear war should not be fought and cannot be won because of Russia’s war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.
They “emphasized their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” according to the US.
That common cause is likely to give Putin pause as he considers how to turn the tide of a war that could determine the survival of his regime.
But this was no kumbaya summit between Biden and Xi.
The two leaders had a notable disagreement about Taiwan’s future.
Tensions over Taiwan have risen sharply, with China conducting major military exercises in August following a visit to the self-governing democracy, which it claims, by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
According to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, Xi told Biden that Taiwan is the “first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations.”
Biden told Xi that he was opposed to any changes to Taiwan after the US president repeatedly stated that Washington was prepared to defend the island militarily.
According to the White House, he raised “objections” to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity.”
Biden also urged China to rein in ally North Korea, saying he was “confident China is not looking for North Korea to engage in further escalation” after a record-breaking spate of missile tests raised fears that Pyongyang would soon conduct its seventh nuclear test, and that he was “confident China is not looking for North Korea to engage in further escalation.”
Biden announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China “to follow up on their discussions” in a sign of warming relations.
A senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told AFP that the two countries were working together “to schedule a visit tentatively scheduled for early next year.”
Xi last met a US president in person in 2019, with Donald Trump, who, along with Biden, identified China as a top international concern and the only potential challenger to US primacy on the global stage.
Although this was the first time Xi and Biden met as presidents, the two have a long history together.
According to Biden, he spent 67 hours in person with Xi as vice president, including a 2011 trip to China aimed at better understanding China’s then-leader-in-waiting and a 2017 meeting in the final days of Barack Obama’s administration.
Following a concerted pressure campaign by Beijing against the close US ally, Xi will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday for the first formal meeting with an Australian leader since 2017.
He will also meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated that he hopes to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
– Putin is not present –
Despite his engagement with Xi, Biden has refused to deal directly with Putin, who is conspicuously absent from the Bali summit.
According to an Indonesian health ministry official, the Kremlin cited scheduling issues and instead sent longtime foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived Sunday evening and underwent two health checks at a Bali hospital.
Lavrov, 72, denied reports that he was being treated in a Bali hospital, telling Tass news agency that he was preparing for the summit in his hotel.
Lavrov’s presence has called a traditional G20 group photo and joint statement into question, with Russia certain to reject any explicit calls to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Debt forgiveness in developing countries
A senior US official said Tuesday that the US is pressuring China and other G20 members to do more to help the world’s poorest countries with debt relief.
The issue will be highlighted in the final joint statement when the summit concludes this week on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, according to the official, but there will be no unanimity.
“What you’ll see in the G20 statement is that 19 G20 members came together to say this is a core, first-order issue that we need to take collective action on, and you’ll see that, you know, one country is still blocking progress,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
He refused to name the hold-out country, but it appeared to be China, a massive creditor to poor countries worldwide in a policy that Western countries have condemned as “debt traps” used to tighten Beijing’s grip on the global economy.
At the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in October, the official expressed similar opposition to a joint agreement on debt restructuring.
He stated that the issue “will continue to be a topic of conversation between the United States and China, as well as within the G20.”
“We’re seeing — because of the stresses on the global economy, because of the food and energy security issues that we’re facing, as well as the broader macroeconomic headwinds in the world,” the US official said.
“It is critical to find a way forward to provide relief to those countries so that they can eventually begin growing again and get their citizens and economies out from under the burden.”
Debt relief will also be an issue in broader relations with China, which presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping sought to reenergize Monday at a G20 side event.
“I suspect that will be a core topic on which we will continue to engage the PRC (China) in the coming weeks and months,” the official said.
Xi and Biden reassure the world
Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping both attempted to defuse tensions between the US and China during a rare summit, but few analysts expect a significant reduction in tensions.
After three hours of talks in Bali, Biden stated that a new Cold War between the two powers was unnecessary, and Xi stated that China was not challenging the international order.
The White House announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to China for the first time in more than four years.
Biden “sent a comforting message, and the Chinese readout was glowing. That in itself demonstrates both sides’ desire to strengthen ties “Yun Sun, director of the China programme at Washington’s Stimson Center, agreed.
Beyond a shared desire to avoid worst-case scenarios and direct clashes, she said the two powers had very different ideas about what a more stable relationship entails, particularly with regard to Taiwan.
“If we expect this summit to miraculously rescue and restore this relationship, I think we need to see more concrete actions,” she said.
The Wilson Center’s Rui Zhong described the Bali summit as “maintenance work,” adding that even Blinken’s visit could end up being more about “treading water” than breaking new ground.
Furthermore, for the first in-person meeting between the two presidents since 2019, each side was keen to minimize tensions.
Biden and Xi were in town for the Group of 20 summits, which was hosted by Indonesia and invited leaders from other Southeast Asian countries, several of which have maritime disputes with China.
“The perception of regional stability is something that Xi would like to keep,” Zhong said. “The smaller Southeast Asian states have long been concerned about China growing and throwing its weight around.”
“Xi gains nothing by coming across as overly cold, inflexible, and unnecessarily hawkish toward Biden, at least when confronted with him.”
The most pressing diplomatic priority for Biden has been reining in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and he has emphasized China’s shaky support for nominal ally Moscow, including a refusal to send weapons.
According to the White House, Xi agreed with Biden on “opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” a phrase missing from China’s statement.
– Strong suspicions
Whatever message they send to the world, both powers have grave doubts about the other’s intentions.
In a national security strategy released last month, the Biden administration called China the only power that could challenge US primacy and sought to focus on ensuring the US maintains a “competitive edge,” including in new technology.
Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s modernization in the 1980s, famously stated that his country should “bide time” and concentrate on its rise rather than immediately challenging other powers.
Policymakers in the United States widely regard China as becoming more assertive under Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, who recently secured a precedent-setting third term.
Rush Doshi, a Biden China advisor who participated in the Bali talks, wrote in a 2019 book while out of government that Xi saw historic opportunities as a result of what he saw as Western decline, as evidenced by Trump’s rise, Britain’s exit from the European Union, and the pandemic response.
He wrote that China’s strategy entails “blunting and building efforts worldwide to displace the United States as the global leader.”
Taiwan’s flashpoint
Taiwan, a self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing that incites strong feelings on both sides, is one area where the relationship could quickly deteriorate.
Republican opponents pounced on Biden’s diplomacy, with hawkish Senator Tom Cotton declaring that the “naive return to a policy of appeasement will harm the United States, endanger Taiwan, and embolden Xi Jinping.”
Biden told reporters that he understood Xi’s threat of an “imminent” invasion of Taiwan, but Xi warned against supporting Taiwan’s “independence.”
After a defiant visit to Taipei by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, China conducted major military exercises in August.
Republican Kevin McCarthy, who could be the next speaker if votes from last week’s election are counted, has stated that he would also visit Taiwan.
Sun believes that after Biden’s assurances, Xi “might have a little more room not to overreact” to a McCarthy visit.
“However, I doubt the Chinese can afford not to respond harshly.”
