- Xi Jinping will visit Joe Biden for the first time.
- Biden is heartened by a stronger-than-expected midterm election showing.
- G20 has strained US-China relations.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit US President Joe Biden for the first time since Biden’s election to the White House. Biden is heartened by a stronger-than-expected midterm election showing.
The two will meet in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday, ahead of a G20 conference overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has strained US-China relations. Taiwan, North Korea, and trade are other contentious subjects.
Biden warned Asian leaders in Cambodia that communication lines with China would remain open to prevent conflict, but the talks would be tough.
Biden told reporters he and Xi have “always had straightforward communications,” preventing “miscalculations”
“He knows me,” Biden replied. “We must determine our red lines and priorities for the next two years.”
Biden arrived in Bali on Sunday night after his party won the Senate in the midterm elections.
Xi, who won a third term at the Communist Party Congress last month, will arrive in Indonesia on Monday.
Xi will also meet with the presidents of Argentina, France, and Senegal, according to Chinese state media.
Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok in Beijing said China has modest expectations and the two sides are keeping communication channels open.
In recent years, US-China relations have worsened over Hong Kong, Taiwan, the South China Sea, coercive trade tactics, and US technology restrictions.
Nancy Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan heightened tensions. Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own and was angered by Pelosi’s trip, conducting air and naval drills after she left.
Biden and Xi last met in person during the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president.
The White House says Monday’s summit won’t produce a unified statement, but it might lead to a more solid partnership between the world’s two largest economies.
China says trade and Taiwan will be the focus of negotiations.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged the Biden administration to “stop politicizing” commerce and accept Beijing’s claim to Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Beijing wants Washington to reduce tariffs imposed by former President Trump in 2019 and to ease Chinese access to US technology. Biden has maintained most of them in place and imposed restrictions on access to technologies that can be used to make weapons.
“The U.S. must stop politicizing, weaponizing, and ideologizing commerce,” Zhao stated.
Biden may also push Beijing to be more assertive in the Ukraine conflict. Beijing has abstained from important UN votes to avoid criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, said every country should do more to persuade Russia to cease the war and leave Ukraine.
Biden will also push China to rein in North Korea after this year’s unparalleled number of missile tests and expectations of a seventh nuclear test.
Beijing has a role in promoting North Korean restraint and denuclearization, says a Seoul academic. The Biden-Xi meeting at the G20 is unlikely to improve collaboration immediately, but the framework for dealing with Pyongyang should be a multilateral defense of international order.
The G20 conference begins Tuesday.
Xi’s second foreign tour since COVID-19 arose in Wuhan three years ago. First international trip since epidemic was September conference with Putin and Central Asian leaders. However, he didn’t attend a meal or picture opportunity without masks.
[embedpost slug=”joe-biden-thinks-re-election-campaign-plans-says-white-house”]
