Xi-Biden summit: China-US diplomatic flurry sets stage for main Apec event. But what can we expect?
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Pundits described the intensity and scale of the exchanges – including many at working levels – as “surprising” and as positive signs pointing to a potential detente between the rival powers amid heightened maritime and hi-tech tensions.
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“The recent flurry of high-level diplomatic exchanges are positive signs that bilateral relations are improving and the two sides are warming up for the expected Biden-Xi summit in San Francisco,” said Zhiqun Zhu, an international relations professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
But he cautioned that not too much should be expected from the summit and other bilateral exchanges because of structural problems and differences over the nature of the relationship – that the US aims to “outcompete” China while Beijing emphasises win-win cooperation.
“The two sides also need to rebuild trust and take specific measures to manage the relationship beyond just talking,” Zhu said.