President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing full US-China relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies in nearly a year, Biden administration officials said.
The White House has said for weeks that it expected Biden and Xi to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but talks took place on the eve of the gathering, which begins Saturday.
The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said Friday that the leaders would meet in the San Francisco Bay area but declined to provide further details because of security concerns. Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on San Francisco during the summit.
The meeting is not expected to lead to many, if any, major announcements, and the differences between the two powers will certainly not be resolved. Instead, one official said, Biden is looking toward “managing competition, preventing the risk of conflict and keeping the lines of communication open.”
The agenda includes no shortage of difficult issues.
Differences in the already complicated US-China relationship have only sharpened in the past year, with Beijing grappling with new US export controls on advanced technology; Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon after it crossed the continental United States; and China’s anger over a visit to the US by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen earlier this year, among other issues. China claims the island as its territory.
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday. AFP via Getty Images
Biden is also likely to press Xi to use China’s influence over North Korea, amid heightened concerns over North Korea’s increasing rate of ballistic missile tests and Pyongyang providing Russia with ammunition for its war in Ukraine.
The Democratic president is also expected to tell Xi that he wants China to use its growing influence over Iran to make clear that Tehran or its proxies should not take actions that could lead to an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war. His administration believes the Chinese, a major buyer of Iranian oil, have significant influence with Iran, which is a major backer of Hamas.
Biden and Xi last met almost a year ago outside the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. In the nearly three-hour meeting, Biden protested China’s continued “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” against Taiwan and discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other issues. Xi stressed that “the Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first inviolable red line in China-US relations.”
Next week’s meeting comes as the United States prepares for a potentially bumpy year for US-China relations, with Taiwan holding presidential elections in January and the US holding its own presidential elections next November.
Beijing sees formal American ties to Taiwan as an incentive to make the island’s de facto independence last for decades, a move it says US leaders do not support. Under the “One China” policy, the US recognizes Beijing as the Chinese government and has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it maintains that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific. Biden intends to reiterate that the US does not want a change in the status quo, an official said.
Disinformation experts testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee have warned that Beijing could target the US, sparking a row that could affect election results at the local level, particularly in districts with large numbers of Chinese-American voters.
The Biden administration has sought to make clear to the Chinese that any action or interference in the 2024 election “would raise very strong concerns on our part,” according to one official.
The officials also noted that Biden is determined to restore military-to-military communications that were largely withdrawn by Beijing after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.
Meanwhile, the number of unsafe or provocative encounters involving ships and aircraft of both countries has increased.
Last month, the US military released a video of a Chinese fighter jet flying within 10 feet (3 meters) of an American B-52 bomber in the South China Sea, nearly causing a crash. Earlier that month, the Pentagon released footage of some of the more than 180 interceptions of US warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have taken place in the past two years, part of a trend called out by US military officials.
The Pentagon has warned that the lack of military-to-military communication “increases the risk of operational incidents or miscalculations that escalate into crisis or conflict.”
The official also said Biden would emphasize US commitment to the Philippines, following a recent episode in which a Chinese ship blocked and collided with two Philippine ships off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
The Philippines and other Chinese neighbors oppose Beijing’s expansive territorial claims over almost the entire sea.
“I want to be very clear,” Biden said in October. “The United States’ defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad.”
Both sides appeared cautiously considering security for the meeting, refusing to publicize the venue of the much-anticipated talks.
Thousands of people protesting climate destruction, corporate practices, the Israel-Hamas war and other issues are expected to descend on San Francisco during the summit.
San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott said he expects several protests a day but doesn’t know which ones will happen where or when. He said the city respects the people’s right to move peacefully but will not tolerate destruction of property, violence or any other crime.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
