Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have resumed dialogue but are still stumbling over Taiwan

American President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping reestablished a dialogue on Wednesday, November 15, which had remained in abeyance for a year, but the leaders of the two greatest world powers also noted differences which seem insurmountable, in particular on Taiwan. The highly anticipated summit in California notably allowed the two heads of state to agree to resume high-level military communications, suspended for more than a year.

Xi also agreed to take “a number of significant measures to significantly reduce supplies” in fentanyl, according to a senior American official. This powerful synthetic opiate produced with chemical compounds originating in particular from China causes tens of thousands of overdoses each year in the United States.

Joe Biden, campaigning for a second term, and Xi Jinping, faced with a degraded economic and social situation in China, have a fundamental interest in ensuring that the rivalry between their countries remains under control throughout a potentially tumultuous 2024, with presidential elections in the United States and Taiwan. The status of the island, of which Beijing claims sovereignty and to which Washington provides substantial military assistance, remains a central subject of friction. On Wednesday, Joe Biden asked Xi to “respect the electoral process” on the island, according to a senior American official. The Chinese president, for his part, urged Biden to “stop arming Taiwan” speaking of an “inevitable” reunification, according to a source in Chinese diplomacy.

The planet is big enough for both of our countries to prosper. »

Xi Jinping

Washington also asks China, a close partner of Iran and Russia, not to aggravate major international crises: the conflict between Israel and Hamas as well as the war in Ukraine.

The two men spent a total of four hours together, between a meeting, a working lunch and even a short walk, enough to give the press an image of calm. The American president welcomed his Chinese counterpart in an opulent residence nestled in the Californian hills – the estate served, for the record, as a setting for the poisonous intrigues of the 1980s soap opera, Dynasty.

The two leaders made “real progress” It front of “World challenges”assured Joe Biden on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

The American president had called, in a short introductory statement to the press at the start of the meeting, to manage the rivalry in a manner “responsible”For “ensure that it does not degenerate into conflict”. Xi Jinping, who warned of the consequences “unbearable” of a confrontation, he estimated, according to an English translation, that China and the United States could not “to turn your back”. “The planet is big enough for our two countries to prosper”, he assured, while Washington and Beijing are engaged in fierce competition, whether economic, technological, strategic or military. However, he informed Joe Biden that American sanctions are harmful “legitimate interests” of China, according to state media.

I firmly believe in a promising future for the bilateral relationship. »

Xi Jinping

“Our meetings have always been frank, direct and useful”assured Joe Biden, who had met Xi Jinping several times before becoming president, and who prides himself on understanding him particularly well. “I firmly believe in a promising future for the bilateral relationship”said Xi Jinping, while warning against any temptation for the United States to “remodel” China.

No joint statement is expected at the end of the meeting but Joe Biden plans to give more details during a press conference. Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last spoke a year ago, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. Since then, the bilateral relationship has continued to become strained, even threatening to be seriously derailed by the flight over American territory by a Chinese balloon at the start of the year. Washington had denounced a espionage operation, which China had denied.

In March, the Chinese president denounced an American strategy of“encirclement”, while the United States strengthens its alliances in the Asia-Pacific and piles economic sanctions on China. However, the tone softened enough in the summer to allow the organization of the Californian face-to-face.