diplomacy
There’s a lot at stake: The topics at the Biden-Xi crisis meeting
US President Joe Biden (r) and China’s head of state Xi Jinping have not seen each other since November 2022. photo
© Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
The fact that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping haven’t spoken to each other in twelve months says a lot about the state of US-China relations. A meeting is intended to prevent a conflict.
The US government expects the meeting, among other things, to reach an agreement on the fight against drug smuggling into the United States and hopes to revive communication between the armed forces of both countries. Overall, the USA is concerned with steering the relationship into an orderly direction and preventing the tough competition from drifting into a real conflict. Biden said in advance that it would be a success for him if both countries returned to a “normal course of exchange with each other” where they could simply “pick up the phone and talk to each other.”
Biden is planning a press conference afterwards on Thursday night in Germany – alone, mind you. An overview of the most important topics and points of contention at the meeting:
economy and trade
Washington and Beijing have been embroiled in a trade conflict for years. Biden left in place punitive tariffs against China that his predecessor, Donald Trump, had introduced. The US also imposed economic sanctions and export restrictions to make it more difficult for Beijing to access American technologies. Most recently, the US government also introduced restrictions on US investments in China. Biden also initiated large-scale investments at home to make America’s supply chains more independent – especially from China. However, both countries are closely intertwined economically. China is one of the three largest trading partners for the USA. A tense relationship between the two largest economies is bad for the global economy. However, a high-ranking government official dampened expectations of a resolution to the trade conflict and said that a review of the punitive tariffs would probably not be completed until the end of the year.
Fentanyl
The US government accuses China of contributing significantly to America’s drug epidemic – through the production of fentanyl, which is reaching the US in mass quantities. The synthetic opioid is 50 times more powerful than heroin and has led to a devastating drug crisis in the United States. According to the US government, the drug is now the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 49 nationwide. The number of people dying from fentanyl overdoses has exploded in recent years. US authorities accuse Beijing of claiming that much of the fentanyl or its components that are trafficked into the US via Mexican cartels comes from China. Beijing has so far defended itself against such accusations and asserted that the country has the strictest drug policy in the world. However, a senior US government official held out the prospect of an agreement that would include steps “on both sides”. If Biden can persuade Xi to make concessions on this issue, it would be significant for him domestically, especially with a view to the 2024 US election.
Taiwan
The issue of Taiwan has great potential for conflict. The island republic, which is only separated from China by a strait, has had a democratic government for decades. However, China sees the country with more than 23 million inhabitants as part of its territory. The area is often the scene of military demonstrations of power. There are concerns that China could invade Taiwan like Russia invaded Ukraine. Biden has promised Taiwan military support from US troops in such an event. Beijing, in turn, prohibits any US “interference” in internal affairs.
Ukraine
Beijing’s stance in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is met with criticism because China appears neutral to the outside world, but at the same time is considered Russia’s most important partner and thus provides Moscow with support. At the same time, China is considered an important country for exerting influence on Russia due to its proximity to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Biden could try to persuade Xi to take advantage of this.
Middle East
Israel’s war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip is also likely to be discussed. As an important buyer of Iranian oil, China is said to have some influence on Tehran. Iran, in turn, supports Hamas and various other groups in the region, and concerns are growing that the Gaza war could escalate into a larger conflict in the Middle East. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, pro-Iranian groups have increased attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq – the Americans responded with air strikes against Iran-aligned groups in Syria. The situation is tense. Here too, Biden could personally call on Xi to have a de-escalatory effect.
Espionage and the balloon thing
At the beginning of the year, a huge Chinese surveillance balloon appeared over US territory. At the time, the USA accused Beijing of a large-scale espionage program and shot down the balloon. China rejected the allegations, spoke of a weather balloon that had gone off course and complained of an overreaction. The incident sent relations between the countries to a low point. It took months until things had calmed down somewhat.
Communication between armed forces
The USA is hoping for progress in communication between the armed forces of both countries. The US government has recently complained several times that direct military communication with China is not working – for example in the case of the balloon – and that this could lead to dangerous misunderstandings. Among other things, Beijing had rejected requests for direct talks at the defense minister level. The US government official said Biden wanted to raise the issue forcefully.
Pandas
A less confrontational sign of the state of China’s relations with other countries is the question of who Beijing is considering with pandas. The animals are considered symbols of friendship between China and the countries to which they are loaned. There has been “panda diplomacy” for many years. The USA recently suffered a setback here: a few days ago, the zoo in the capital Washington had to say goodbye to its beloved pandas, which were ordered back to China. Some people hope that the meeting of presidents could at least bring a concrete result at this point.