Unofficial exchanges soared ahead of Xi-Biden meeting to smooth path for talks in San Francisco
- Recent weeks have seen a surge in ‘Track 2’ dialogues among scholars from both countries in run-up to talks between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden on Wednesday
- Non-government intermediaries are seen able to tackle thorny issues that could stall more official negotiations
“Why? One think tank person told me that if they [talked] about improvement of US-China relations they might be criticised or even attacked in the United States,” he told a forum at the university in late October.
According to Wang, some voices questioned whether improved ties with Washington’s “greatest geopolitical rival” would be a good thing, even as a deterioration in the relationship was also widely viewed as detrimental to the US.
Wang’s remarks shed a rare light on the intensive backchannel diplomacy taking place behind the scenes in the run-up to Wednesday’s meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden at the Apec summit.
Informal discussions surged as the time window narrowed on the bid to mend China-US relations ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ forum in San Francisco, which opened on Saturday.