President Joe Biden sat down with President Xi Jinping in Bali Monday for a discussion meant to ensure competitive rivalry does not become ‘anything near conflict,’ and planned to dispatch the nation’s top diplomat to Beijing to continue discussions.
‘The two leaders agreed that Secretary of State Blinken will visit China to follow up on their discussions,’ according to an official White House readout following the meeting.
Biden spoke ‘candidly’ and said the U.S. would compete ‘vigorously’ with China, the White House said. But he also ‘reiterated that this competition should not veer into conflict and underscored that the United States and China must manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication.’
Biden once again raised sensitive human rights issues, a practice he makes a point of carrying out in conversations where he says he tries to be direct.
Biden ‘raised concerns about PRC practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly,’ according to the White House. Xinjiang is where China is accused of carrying out brutal repression of the Uygher minority.
He also brought up tensions in the Taiwan Straits, where policy experts fear a series aggressive Chinese moves could foreshadow a military confrontation.
President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands at the start of their first in-person meeting of Biden’s presidency
The statement mentions the situation in Ukraine, but does not reveal whether the leaders broke new ground, after a senior administration official said a top Chinese leader was ’embarrassed’ by Russia’s military conduct.
‘President Biden raised Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Russia’s irresponsible threats of nuclear use,’ according to the readout. ‘President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.’ The two also discussed North Korea’s ‘provocative behavior’ when Biden raised it, although the statement gives no sense of how China responded.
Biden ‘raised U.S. objections to the PRC’s coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity,’ the statement said. Biden also laid out how the U.S. One China policy ‘has not changed’ – code for the diplomatic dance around the status of Taiwan, which the U.S. pledges to protect under the Taiwan Relations Act.
Biden’s advisors said there were hopes the meeting might at least produce a ‘floor’ for the fraught relationship between the two global powers. Their talk comes amid a brutal war in Ukraine, tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and global fears over North Korea’s repeated missile tests.
His Chinese counterpart said he was prepared for a ‘candid and in-depth exchange of views.’
The two powerful leaders shook hands inside a luxury hotel in Bali at the start of their meetings to kick off the event. They smiled for the cameras as they greeted, with Xi, 69, touching Biden’s elbow at one point and Biden, 79, putting a hand on Xi’s back as they walked a short distance.
‘Good to see you,’ Biden told Xi as they met for the first time in years, having often boasted publicly of having met Xi more often than any other US official.
Then, the president addressed a large room full of officials to kick off the much-hyped event, in the ballroom with a huge floral arrangement between the two men, who each sat at separate long tables.
He said a goal was to ‘show that China and the United States can manage our differences.’
‘As leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything near conflict, and find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require mutual cooperation,’ Biden said.
‘History is the best textbook, so we should take history as a mirror and let it guide a future,’ Xi told him.
Both leaders were unmasked at the top of the meeting, while their officials wore masks. The Chinese members wore identical masks bearing a picture of the nation’s red flag. The US delegation’s weren’t so color coordinated, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sporting a black mask and others opting for white.
‘The world expects, I believe, China and the United States to play a key role in addressing global challenges from climate changes to food insecurity for us to be able to work together. The United States stands ready to do just that,’ said Biden.
The two men held the much-awaited talks amid steep tensions
Back slapper: Biden placed his hand on Xi’s shoulder at one point
Biden clasped Xi Jinping’s hand during their initial greeting. Then men have met multiple times, dating to Biden’s time as vice president
‘We have maintained communication via video conferences, phone calls and letters. But none of them have been a substitute for face-to-face exchanges,’ Xi said through a translator
Members of the Chinese delegation wore identical masks. There were bouquets of flower for each leader, and a huge floral arrangement between them
Open door policy: The two leaders entered a room for public statements, then began closed door talks for their formal meeting
Charm offensive: President Joe Biden reacts as he walks to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Bali, Indonesia
‘We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward, and elevate the relationship,’ said Xi.
Xi echoed Biden’s comments on the need for face-to-face communication.
‘We have maintained communication via video conferences, phone calls and letters,’ Xi said at the top of the meeting.
‘But none of them have been a substitute for face-to-face exchanges,’ he said through a translator.
‘The world has come to a crossroads,’ Xi continued. ‘Where to go from here. This is a question that is not only on our mind but also on the mind of all countries. The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship.’
He noted that since the U.S. and China have gone through ’50 plus eventful years’ since they established diplomatic relations, and said he hoped they would ‘chart the right course for the China-US relationship.’
According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Xi said the current state of relations was not in the interest of both countries and that they needed to ‘steer the rudder,’ Reuters reported from Beijing.
American officials said Monday before the meeting they believe China is becoming increasingly concerned and embarrassed about Russia’s war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin‘s rhetoric on nuclear weapons.
They spoke just ahead of Joe Biden‘s first meeting as president with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Beijing’s relationship with Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine will be one of the areas where Biden will want to get a handle on Xi’s thinking.
The officials delivered an assessment of discussions at a summit of southeast Asian leaders in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, attended by the Chinese premier, Beijing’s second most powerful figure.
‘Premier Li Keqiang spoke rather extensively about China’s policy towards Ukraine, put clear insistence on sovereignty, on the responsibility of nuclear threats, the need to ensure that nuclear weapons are not used in the way that some have suggested,’ said an official on a briefing call with reporters.
President Joe Biden will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Bali on Monday evening, ahead of a G20 summit on the Indonesian island
Biden met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo ahead of the G20 summit in Bali on Monday, and joked that he never wanted to leave and was ‘staying on the beach’
Putin has repeatedly warned that he could use tactical nuclear weapons to defend his territory.
The official went on to say that the US delegation picked up more details of Chinese unease at the summit.
‘I think the messaging in the hallway was unmistakable and yes there have been areas where China and Russia have worked together to deepen and broaden their relationship – economically, on energy, technologically and in a variety of other areas,’ said the officials.
‘But on some of these big issues. I think there is undeniably some discomfort in Beijing about what we’ve seen in terms of reckless rhetoric and activities on the part of Russia.
‘I think it is also undeniable that China is probably both surprised and even a little bit embarrassed by the conduct of Russian military operations.’
The official did not describe the source of the messaging, but Li was in Phnom Penh where he met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday.
Biden was greeted with a traditional Balinese welcome dance when he touched down on the island – his third stop of an around-the-world foreign policy push
U.S. officials will see an opportunity to drive a wedge between China and Russia, after months of concern that Beijing might respond favorably to Moscow’s requests for weapons.
Biden is due to meet Xi ahead of the Group of 20 leaders summit in Bali on Monday evening.
He cut a relaxed figure earlier, meeting with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo. He told his host he planned never to leave and would be ‘staying on the beach.’
His focus now turns to Xi and the most important moment of his foreign trip.
The two have known each other since 2011, but this will be their first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office last year.
Officials and Biden himself have taken pains to play down expectations, framing the get-together as a chance to understand each other’s red lines.
It comes after months of tensions over Taiwan and accusations that China is stealing American technology. The latest flashpoint came last month when the Biden administration moved to ban the sale of cutting-edge microchips to China.
Now officials say Biden will want to understand where Xi stands on China’s growing relationship with Russia, its designs on the island of Taiwan, and whether it is willing to do anything to rein in North Korea’s aggression.
A second official on the call said Biden wanted to ensure that competition between the two countries did not spiral out of control.
Children wave Ukrainian flags at the main square in the recently recaptured city of Kherson
Local residents look at two alleged collaborators tied by the hands to pillars in Kherson, after the city was abandoned by retreating Russian forces. Russia is accused of war crimes
American officials said they believed Chinese officials were discomforted and embarrassed by Russian activities in Ukraine
‘He wants to make sure that that competition is bounded, that we develop guardrails that we have clear rules of the road, and that we do all of that to ensure that competition does not veer of the conflict,’ the official said.
Xi arrives at the summit with his position cemented by a recent party congress. He will serve a second term of 10 years and saw some of his potential rivals sidelined.
It means American officials will have a chance to see his most trusted allies up close.
‘Tonight in the meeting, we think President Xi will read with him some new faces that will be taking more prominent roles in the formulation and execution of Chinese policy in the time ahead,’ said the official.
Biden also strengthened his position on Sunday, when Democrats won their 50th Senate seat, giving them control of the upper chamber for another two years.
The fate of the House remains in the balance, although Republicans appear to be on course to win it with the slimmest of majorities.
‘I know I’m coming in stronger,’ Biden told reporters traveling with him in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ‘but I didn’t need that.
‘I know Xi Jinping, I’ve spent more time with him than any other world leader.
‘I know him well. He knows me.
‘We have very little misunderstanding and we just got to figure out where the red lines are.’
