“Let the competition not turn into conflict”: what is known about the meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

2023-11-16 02:19:00

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping they shook hands and They promised to reduce rising tensions between the superpowers this Wednesday, during the first meeting held in a year of high conflict. “We have to make sure that the competition does not turn into conflict,” said the American leader and his pair postulated that “Planet Earth is big enough for both countries to succeed”.

The summit was expected to produce agreements on resuming military-to-military contacts, cooperation to reduce the flow of the dangerous drug fentanyl to the United States, the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Hamas and Israel. However, toBoth leaders made it clear that the real objective was to cool tensions that emerged in a context of a long struggle for global primacy between the United States and an increasingly assertive China.

None of the leaders in their opening remarks mentioned the most anticipated topic: the Taiwan question, an autonomous democracy over which Beijing claims sovereignty and which it has not ruled out taking by force. Biden was expected to tell Jinping that the United States will stick to its “One China” policy, which emphasizes that does not support Taiwan independence, but will continue to provide military aidsaid White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Biden stated that they would discuss global challenges, including climate change and artificial intelligence. But in an attack on America’s calls for human rights, Jinping said it was “unrealistic for one party to reshape the other”. For his part, the Chinese president was expected to push to end trade restrictions, as the Asian country’s economy struggles to shore up growth following its tough zero-Covid policy.

The agreements and statements of Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

The meeting took place at the Filoli estate, near San Francisco, California, where the 1980s soap opera was filmed Dynasty. The meeting began with Biden and Jinping sharing a smile and a handshake on a red carpet, following the Chinese president stepped out of a black limousine. “We have to make sure that competition does not turn into conflict”Biden told Jinping as their delegations sat down to talk at the picturesque estate.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed, which surprises no onebut our meetings have always been sincere, direct and helpful,” Biden told Jinping, adding: “I think it is essential that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, but no misconceptions or miscommunications“.

Jinping responded that “conflict and confrontation have unbearable consequences for both sides” and that “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their backs on each other is not an option”. The Chinese leader also warned Biden that US sanctions and other measures once morest his companies harm Beijing’s “legitimate interests” “in matters of export control, investment control and unilateral sanctions.”

“The relationship between China and the United States has never been easy in the past 50 years or more, and always faces problems of one kind or another. However, it has continued to move forward amid twists and turns,” Jinping posited, stressing that as long as there is mutual respect and both nations “coexist in peace”, a way will always be found to “overcome differences”. “I firmly believe in the promising future of this bilateral relationship”he added.

Finally, the leaders They agreed to reestablish high-level communication between their armies, they assured that governments would delve deeper into the issue of artificial intelligence, and Jinping agreed to measures to “drastically” stop fentanyl trafficking. The last time that both leaders had seen each other was on November 14, 2022 in Indonesia within the framework of the G20 summit. Relations between China and the United States went through ups and downs, especially following Washington announced the presence of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in its airspace.

ML / ED

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