G20 Summit in Bali
Long list of issues: Biden and Xi meet
US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting ahead of the G20 summit. photo
© Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
Relations between China and the United States are in poor shape – the list of issues is long. Can a meeting between Biden and Xi in front of a paradise setting calm a few waves?
US President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping have held a much-anticipated meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali. Both greeted each other with a handshake. It is the first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office almost two years ago. China-US relations are at a low ebb.
Biden wanted to show China’s president “red lines”. “There are very few misunderstandings between us. We just need to figure out where the red lines are — and what are the most important things for each of us over the next two years,” Biden said ahead of the meeting.
Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan estimated that the meeting on the resort island of Bali could last several hours. “The President sees the US and China in fierce competition, but this competition should not degenerate into conflict or confrontation and should be responsibly settled,” he warned. All countries, including the US and China, should act according to a set of “well-established and agreed rules”. “The use of intimidation, coercion or aggression” should be avoided.
White House: Communication should always be possible
In talks with China’s president, Biden will ensure that the competition is well-founded and that there are “guard rails” and “traffic rules,” said a senior White House official a few hours before the start of the meeting. You want to reduce “room for misunderstandings”. “I think it’s pretty clear that both sides had an interest in this meeting,” the government representative continued. Communication should always be possible – regardless of whether the relationships are better or worse.
Biden and Xi meet a day before the start of the two-day Group of Leading Economists (G20) summit in Nusa Dua, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also expected.
The list of contentious issues is long: China’s backing for Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine, trade war and US sanctions, China’s saber-rattling against democratic Taiwan and its territorial claims in the South China Sea. China, in turn, accuses the United States of wanting to hinder its rise in the world. The US increasingly sees China as a rival and a threat.
Identify matching areas of both countries
The goal of the talks is also to identify areas in which China and the United States share interests, Sullivan announced. These are, for example, climate change or public health. Both countries should also work together on these topics. Personal exchange at the highest level is the most effective way. The White House had already dampened expectations last week and stated that there would probably be no joint statement after the meeting.