Biden, Xi Jinping To Meet Amidst Souring Relations

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in person for the first time since the US president took office nearly two years ago, amid rising tensions between the two countries as they compete for global influence.

Both men are coming into the highly anticipated meeting — held on the margins of the Group of 20 summit of world leaders in Indonesia — with bolstered political standing at home. Democrats triumphantly held onto control of the Senate, with a chance to boost their ranks by one in a runoff election in Georgia next month, while Xi was awarded a third five-year term in October by the Community Party’s national congress, a tenure that broke with tradition.

White House advisers have frequently pushed to downplay any notion of hostility between the two countries, emphasizing that the two countries can collaborate on shared concerns such as climate change and health security.

However, relations between the United States and China have grown increasingly strained during Biden’s presidency.

Before leaving Washington, Biden said he planned to raise with Xi the differences in their approach to the self-governing island of Taiwan, trade practices and China’s relationship with Moscow amid its nearly nine months-old invasion of Ukraine. Chinese officials have largely refrained from public criticism of Russia’s war, although Beijing has avoided direct support such as supplying arms.

Taiwan has emerged as one of Washington and Beijing’s most sensitive topics. Several times during his presidency, Biden has stated that the United States would protect the island, which China has eyed for eventual unification, in the event of a Beijing-led assault. However, administration officials have repeatedly stated that the United States’ “strategic ambiguity” toward the island has not changed.

Tensions flared even higher when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited Taiwan in August, prompting China to retaliate with military drills and the firing of ballistic missiles into nearby waters.

The Biden administration also blocked exports of advanced computer chips to China last month — a move meant to bolster U.S. competition against Beijing and one that was quickly condemned by Chinese officials.

And, despite the fact that the two men have had five phone or video calls under Biden’s administration, White House officials say those experiences are no substitute for Biden seeing and assessing Xi in person. This mission has become much more vital since Xi consolidated his power through the party congress, leaving US officials seeking direct engagement with Xi because lower-level officials have been unable or unable to speak for the Chinese president.

White House officials and Chinese counterparts have spent weeks discussing the meeting’s logistics, which will take place at Xi’s hotel with translators giving simultaneous interpretation via headsets.

Both Biden and Xi intend to bring modest delegations to the meeting, with US officials anticipating that Xi will bring newly-elevated government officials and expressing hope that it will lead to more substantial talks in the future.

Biden first met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is hosting the G-20 summit, to unveil a number of new development measures for the archipelago nation, including investments in climate, security, and education.

Many of Biden’s conversations and engagements during his three-country tour — which took him to Egypt and Cambodia before he landed on the island of Bali on Sunday — were, by design, preparing him for his meeting with Xi and sending a signal that the U.S. would compete in areas where Xi has also worked to expand his country’s influence.

In Phnom Penh, Biden attempted to emphasize American influence and commitment in a region where China has also made inroads and many governments consider themselves associated with Beijing. He also sought advice on what issues to bring up with Xi in meetings with leaders from Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

The two men have a history dating back to Biden’s tenure as vice president, when he went on a get-to-know-you trip with Xi, then China’s vice president, in travels that brought Xi to Washington and Biden to the Tibetan plateau. The US president has stated that he is familiar with Xi and hopes to utilize this in-person encounter to better grasp where the two men stand.

Biden was fond of sneaking allusions to his meetings with Xi into his trips around the United States in the run-up to the midterm elections, citing the Chinese leader’s penchant for autocratic administration to make his own case to voters about why democracy should triumph. That viewpoint was somewhat validated on the global stage, according to White House sources, who said numerous world leaders approached Biden during his time in Cambodia to inform him they were keenly watching the conclusion of the midterm elections and that the results were a success for democracy.

Following his meeting with Xi, Biden planned to make public statements and face reporters’ questions.

(Culled from BBC)