The dialogue was at a standstill. Joe Biden and Xi Jinping reestablished themselves on Wednesday November 15 during a meeting not seen in almost a year. An important step forward, which also exposed the differences between the two countries, particularly concerning Taiwan. The four-hour summit, in a plush residence about forty kilometers from San Francisco, was “constructive and productive” declared Joe Biden at its end. A few hours after the meeting, the American president nevertheless repeated that he still considered his Chinese counterpart as a “dictator”, once again triggering the anger of Beijing which denounced “responsible political manipulation” and an “extremely erroneous” speech. “.
The meeting, however, led to a resumption of high-level military communications, suspended for more than a year. The American president also assured that the two leaders will now be able to “pick up the phone, call directly and that he will be heard immediately” in the event of a crisis. “We have not always agreed, which is not a surprise, but our meetings have always been frank, direct and useful,” concluded the American head of state.
Fentanyl, Taiwan and international crises…
The meeting, intended to give an impression of newfound serenity, did not resolve any substantive dispute. On the pharmaceutical issue, the Chinese president agreed to take “a number of significant measures to significantly reduce supplies” of fentanyl components, the Americans announced. This powerful synthetic opiate produced with chemical compounds originating in particular from China causes tens of thousands of overdoses each year in the United States. The announcement is welcome for Joe Biden, campaigning for a second term.
Xi Jinping, faced with a degraded economic and social situation in China, does not want to appear weakened, particularly with regard to Taiwan. The status of the island, of which Beijing claims sovereignty, and where a presidential election will soon take place, remains a central subject of friction. On Wednesday, Joe Biden asked Xi to “respect the electoral process” and confirmed the deliberately ambiguous line of the United States: no support for independence, but refusal of a takeover by force. The Chinese president, for his part, urged his counterpart to “stop arming Taiwan”, since reunification is, according to him, “inevitable”, indicated a source in Chinese diplomacy.
The American president had called, at the start of the meeting, to manage the rivalry in a “responsible” manner, to “ensure that it does not degenerate into conflict”. “China does not seek spheres of influence, and will not wage either hot or cold war against any country,” Xi Jinping assured later, while Washington and Beijing are engaged in fierce competition, which whether it is economic, technological, strategic or military.
“The planet is big enough for our two countries to prosper,” said the Chinese president. Washington also recalled that it expects China, a close partner of Iran and Russia, not to aggravate major international crises: the conflict between Israel and Hamas as well as the war in Ukraine.
A meeting for the cameras
A summit adjusted to the millimeter, after weeks of negotiations, in an estate nestled in the Californian hills. The two men had a meeting with their respective delegations, then a small working lunch, and finally this one-on-one walk, clearly organized for photographers and cameras.
During the meeting, Joe Biden asked Xi Jinping to convey his birthday wishes to Peng Liyuan, wife of the Chinese president for more than thirty years. The American leader will celebrate his 81st birthday on November 20, the same day as Peng Liyuan, a renowned soprano who will celebrate her 61st birthday. According to an American representative, Xi Jinping, a little embarrassed, admitted that this date had slipped his mind because of work and thanked Joe Biden for the reminder.
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last spoke in November 2022, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. The bilateral relationship then continued to deteriorate, even threatening to be seriously derailed by the flight over American territory by a Chinese balloon at the start of the year. Washington had denounced a espionage operation, which China had denied. In March, the Chinese president denounced an American strategy of “encirclement”, while the United States is strengthening its alliances in Asia Pacific and piling economic sanctions on China.
What Joe Biden continued to do on Wednesday evening, during a reception for the leaders of Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), meeting at a summit in San Francisco, to, according to him, “create new contacts and launch new partnerships.”