uChinese President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a long-awaited meeting on Monday on the Indonesian island of Bali. They both greeted each other with a handshake. This is the first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office nearly two years ago.
Shi and Biden
Source: AFP / SAUL LOEB
At the Bali meeting, Biden hoped to avoid a „conflict” between the two countries. It is important for him to control “our differences” and prevent “competition from becoming a struggle.” Biden said it is important to stay in touch with China. The US President emphasized that there is hardly any alternative to a personal conversation. This is the first direct meeting between the two presidents since Biden entered the White House.
Xi was willing to make an open exchange with Biden. The Chinese president said China and the United States should find the „right direction” for their relations. The world expects China and the United States to „handle their relationship properly.” „As leaders of two great countries, we must chart the right path for bilateral relations between the United States and China as we move forward,” Xi said. Relationships must also be raised to a higher level.
He stressed the responsibility of a statesman who leads a state: „He should also think about how to deal with other states and the wider world.”
The list of controversial issues is long
The presidents spoke ahead of the summit of the Group of Major Economic Powers (G20) in Bali on Tuesday and Wednesday. US-China relations are at an all-time low.
The list of contentious issues is long: China’s support for Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine, the US trade war and sanctions, China’s attack on democratic Taiwan, its territorial claims in the South China Sea, human rights abuses, and the persecution of minorities such as the Uyghurs.
China, in turn, accuses the United States of wanting to impede its rise in the world. The United States increasingly sees China as a competitor and a threat to its security.
Biden sees 'US and China in tough competition’
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had said Biden would be „completely direct and direct” in talks on Monday on the sidelines of the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali. „The president sees the United States and China in a fierce competition,” Sullivan told reporters. However, this competition should not descend into a confrontation.
Biden wants to make sure „that competition is limited, that we put up crash barriers, and that we have clear traffic rules.” This is to ensure that competition „does not turn into conflict”. So the US president will also touch on areas in which the US and China can work together, such as climate change or health care. This will be the first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office as President of the United States in January 2021.
The US government does not expect the meeting to produce concrete results or to publish a joint statement. However, it could have a stabilizing effect at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries.
Biden had previously rejected Xi’s basic concessions, saying he wanted the two countries to draw their own red lines and resolve disputes. Regarding trade restrictions, Xi accuses the United States of using the economy as a weapon and of wanting to suppress China’s growing influence in the world. Other sticking points between the world’s two largest economies are how to deal with Taiwan and North Korea and the attitude toward Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
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