Expectations are low for the meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that will take place Wednesday in San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Biden officials have said one potential agreement that might be made is to resume military-to-military communication channels that were suspended in the wake of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative trip to Taiwan in August 2022.
But even the increase in military dialogue is not guaranteed. The US has previously framed its efforts to restore the communication channels as “guard rails” to manage the frequent encounters between the two militaries in the South China Sea and near Taiwan. From Beijing’s perspective, the US effort to establish guard rails will normalize the increasing US military presence in the region.
The South China Morning Post reported that when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Washington last week, he “scoffed” when asked about military-to-military guard rails, saying the best guard rail would be the US adhering to the historical commitments it made regarding Taiwan.
In recent years, the US has significantly increased military and diplomatic support for Taiwan, which China says breaks from the commitments Washington made when normalizing relations with Beijing, which became official in 1979.
China has stepped up its interceptions of US and other Western aircraft in the South China Sea to show its displeasure with the military activity. The Post quoted Dominic Chiu, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group, who asked how things would look if the roles were reversed. “If the situation were reversed, it is hard to imagine the US would be inert if China’s military operated 13 nautical miles off the coast of Los Angeles on a daily basis,” he said.
A major impediment to US-China military talks was US sanctions on Li Shangfu, who was China’s defense minister until he was fired last month. China had rejected a meeting between Li and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin earlier this year over the sanctions, which the US refused to lift despite its claim that it wanted to foster dialogue with Beijing. China’s defense minister position is currently vacant, and it’s unclear if Li’s removal will pave the way for a high-level meeting.
According to POLITICO, Biden plans to press Xi on China’s relationship with Iran amid the current tensions in the Middle East, where Iran-aligned militias have been frequently targeting US troops in Syria and Iraq due to US support for Israel’s war in Gaza. US officials said Biden will ask Xi to use his influence to prevent Iran and its allies from escalating the Gaza war into a regional conflict, a request that will likely add to the tensions at the meeting.
Kurt Campbell, the top Asia official on the National Security Council and nominee to be deputy secretary of state, has signaled that Biden will take a hardline stance with Xi. He said the best thing for the US to do with the summit is “make clear and to demonstrate to the Chinese that we still have staying power, that we are still the most powerful country, and we are still committed to our larger purpose in the Indo-Pacific.”
Beijing views the US efforts to build up its military and alliances in the Indo-Pacific as a policy of containment aimed at China, which Xi made clear in comments earlier this year. “Western countries led by the US have implemented comprehensive containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedented severe challenges to our country’s development,” Xi said in March.
The US needs to handle this, with a tad more diplomatic tone…
I’m convinced there are mostly morons at the helm.
Or worse.
Moronic sociopaths?
That’s rich–Biden wants to press Xi to pressure Iran not to escalate while we figuratively move uncountable barrels of gasoline closer and closer to an out of control fire. Brilliant, Biden administration! Xi and Yi and Putin and Lavrov are already doing the work of containment. Biden and Blinken are not.
They look more like world leaders at this point.
Because they are.
I know the press releases are supposed to make the frail president seem macho tough, but I look at it as “what jackasses!”. There is nothing but demands.
Xi is a jackass for agreeing to meet Biden. Unless I’m even more stupid than I believe I am, his time would be better spent j@rking off to porn while the CIA has him on tape.
Maybe. But perception counts. The idea that he attempted all diplomatic revenues plays well across BRICS v bullying in contrast.
The US has never been as blatantly bloodthirsty, supporting genocide with absolutely no shame or cover for its hypocrisy in re to human rights and war crimes.
I mean at some point, it’s been self evident and another meeting isn’t going to make a bit of difference. That is unless you like to suffer for a couple more of hours from Genocide Joe lecturing you on his “Moral Superiority.” I’m stupid, but not that stupid or that nice either.
If China didn’t go, the US would flood its vast propaganda network with narratives about China being hostile and unwilling to talk. You know how it goes. They pulled the same gaslighting shit on the masses with Russia/Putin.
Putin went through 6 hours meeting with Macron in February 2022, got lectured by that stupid weasel at the press conference, then still got the shaft. Both Putin and Xi are better men than me. It should be a relief to you that I don’t have access to Putin’s BIG RED BUTTON, but probably more so to me.
It is a relief!
LOL Me too.
Is that soldier who guided Joe around at the wreath laying ceremony when Joe didn’t know what planet he was on going along?
You got a link? Haven’t seen that one.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/biden-hammered-for-seeming-confused-during-veterans-day-wreath-laying-just-so-embarrassing/ar-AA1jM4xK
He’s like an automaton walking
Of course it is low. We want them to buy our debt as we have trouble selling it. Ever reliable Japan has to lull out of buying. End of that era. China is tge only one with the financial depth to be able to afford it. But there would be conditions attached, Chinese conditions, that is.
If expectations are so low, why did dozens of business leaders pay thousands to US-China Trade Assiciation to organize a meeting with Xi.
Our inflatiion can be cured only by importing cheap goods, to lessen the pressure on family budgets.
Let us see. If low expectations means less sucess in lecturing China, of course. But is our love of hearing our voice really what the meeting is all about?
China’s been cutting its US debt holdings for several years, and isn’t likely to change that policy.
I heard that Xi was going to present Biden with a golden Horde.
I suspect that Kurt Campbell will be looking for a different career before long.