Little remains to be said between China’s increasingly powerful Xi Jinping and US lame duck Barack Obama
Meeting between ‘great-power’ leaders in Lima at APEC summit expected to be brief
There are unlikely to be any relaxed strolls together by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama when they meet at the ongoing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, unlike their first informal summit at a ranch in California.
Obama, who is preparing to leave the White House, is not only a lame duck president but faces the likelihood his successor will renege on US promises for the APEC region, while Xi, who has concentrated his power at home as he exerts China’s influence abroad, will be focused on strengthening ties with leaders who can help him on either front.
The last official meeting between Xi and Obama is expected to be brief and symbolic, as it is now up to President-elect Donald Trump to move the Sino-US relationship forward.
“They will meet, but they won’t have much to talk about,” said Tao Wenzhao, a researcher on Sino-US ties at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank in Beijing. “The two have already talked enough in Hangzhou ... they talked for over five hours in Hangzhou, producing a long list of 35 broad agreements.”
