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Inside Out | Xi-Biden meeting: the US-China mood music has changed, and for good reason
- Recent global meetings have underscored the need for greater leadership from China and the US on issues from climate change to pandemic recovery
- Both leaders also need to calm the waters ahead of a critical year domestically, with US midterm elections and Beijing’s Winter Olympics coming up
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You could be forgiven for thinking that US-China peace has broken out as Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden prepare for their first meeting since Biden took office at the start of the year. After so many rotten eggs over the past few years, the return to civility is sudden, surprising and very welcome.
Last I checked, officials were still smarting over the Anchorage meeting in March between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and declaring a “stalemate” over Xinjiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In September, China issued a blistering 102-point “fact sheet” itemising America’s “criminal record” of interference and destabilisation in Hong Kong. Just a fortnight ago, Biden was lambasting Xi for failing to join the COP26 climate summit in person.
But last week, the mood music shifted dramatically, as Biden and Xi issued letters of congratulation to the 55th anniversary meeting of the National Committee on US-China Relations. Xi’s olive branch was read out at the committee’s gala dinner by China’s new ambassador to the US, Qin Gang.
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China “stands ready to work with the United States to enhance exchanges and cooperation across the board,” Xi wrote, adding that China aims to “jointly address regional and international issues as well as global challenges [and] properly manage differences, so as to bring China-US relations back to the right track of sound and steady development.”
Biden’s letter affirmed the “global significance” of the US-China relationship in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, and “addressing the existential threat of the climate crisis”. A US official elaborated that Biden welcomes stiff competition “but does not want conflict”.
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No change to US’ one-China stand on Taiwan, Blinken tells Wang Yi on G20 sidelines in Rome
No change to US’ one-China stand on Taiwan, Blinken tells Wang Yi on G20 sidelines in Rome
Of course, it is safe to assume the vitriol has disappeared only temporarily – but that does not make this upswelling of bonhomie any less helpful or significant.
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