‘Trust, but verify’: Joe Biden’s tough but pragmatic stance offers hope for US-China ties ahead of Xi Jinping meeting

While US president remains critical of Beijing, his recent comments suggest the two sides can still find common ground
American leader reveals details of personal dealings with Chinese counterpart, highlighting their bond while deflecting criticism about foreign policy

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:16pm, 14 Nov 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

US President Joe Biden recently offered a glimpse of how his administration handles its increasingly volatile ties with Beijing, hinting at a pragmatic and hopeful approach on the eve of his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco.

“‘Trust, but verify’ is the phrase,” he said, invoking the famous dictum that former president Ronald Reagan used in dealing with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

It was a remarkable admission for a president who portrays China as America’s biggest threat, marking a clear departure from his predecessor Donald Trump, who scrutinised China through the lens of “distrust and verify”.

He made the remarks during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House last month when asked for advice on how to deal with an assertive China.

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During the October 25 press briefing, Biden had plenty of criticism for Beijing. “Look, China is having their own internal and external difficulties right now,” the US leader said, noting China’s “stagnant” economic growth and its “intimidation” of the Philippines and other countries.

But what made Biden’s remarks stand out was not the criticism, which was not much different from other US politicians, but the details he revealed about his personal dealings with Xi, which served to highlight their personal bond while deflecting criticism about his weak leadership on foreign policy.

“The fact is that I have met with Xi Jinping more than any other world leader has,” Biden said, adding that since his time as US vice-president, he had held over 68 hours of private meetings with Xi and they had travelled “17,000 miles” together.

At one point, Biden revealed that Xi once asked him personally about the Aukus deal, a three-way security alliance between the US, Britain and Australia, which Beijing denounced as a move to contain China and a challenge to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

“When we put together the deal, I was asked by Xi Jinping were we just trying to surround China. I said, ‘No, we’re not surrounding China.’ We’re just making sure that the sea lanes remain open,” he said.

Biden did not say how Xi responded.

Given the glaring trust deficit between the rival powers in the absence of any official military-to-military dialogue, Washington’s repeated reassurances that it does not seek to contain or enter into a new cold war with China have done little to ease mutual hostility.

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Many experts remain cautiously hopeful about the San Francisco summit, largely due to the fact that Xi finally agreed to travel to the US to meet Biden. This can be read as a gesture from the Chinese leader, especially after his surprising absence at the Group of 20 summit in India in September, which was widely seen as a snub to both Washington and New Delhi.

However, even if Xi and Biden are able to renew their personal bond on Wednesday, the stakes for the meeting are now sky-high. The two have not met or spoken since their talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali a year ago. More importantly, it will probably be the last meeting between the leaders before the US presidential election in less than 12 months.

The potential consequences of the Xi-Biden summit in California are much weightier than those of their talks in Bali. The two leaders must not only take stock of what has happened over the past year but also look at what lies ahead next year.

In short, they will need to look beyond the San Francisco encounter and come up with an enforceable mechanism that can help the world steer clear of an unintended crisis over the next few months.

“Trust, but verify” would be a good start, as it suggests that both agreement and verification are still possible. As responsible global powers, Beijing and Washington will need to show they can find common ground and reach agreements on how to reduce risk.