Virtual dialogue, real tensions; Biden, Xi to meet

Washington: Joe Biden and China’s  Xi Jinping have slurped noodles together in Beijing. They’ve shared  deep thoughts about the meaning  of America during an exchange  on the Tibetan plateau. They’ve  gushed to U.S. business leaders  about developing a sincere respect  for each other.

The American president has  held up his relationship with Xi  as evidence of his heartfelt belief  that good foreign policy starts  with building strong personal relationships. But as the two leaders  prepare to hold their first presidential meeting on Monday, the  troubled U.S.-China relationship  is demonstrating that the power of  one of Biden’s greatest professed  strengths as a politician, the ability  to connect has its limits.

White House officials have set  low expectations for Monday’s virtual meeting: No major announcements are expected and there’s  no plan for the customary joint  statement by the two countries at  the end, according to administration officials. The public warmth  Xi referred to Biden as his old  friend when Biden visited China  in 2013 while the then-U.S. vice  president spoke of their friendship  has cooled now that both men are  heads of state.

Biden bristled in June when  asked by a reporter if he would  press his old friend to cooperate  with a World Health Organisation  investigation into the coronavirus origins. Let’s get something  straight: We know each other well;  we’re not old friends, Biden said.

Biden nonetheless believes a  face-to-face meeting, even a virtual  one like the two leaders will hold  Monday evening has its value. He  feels that the history of their relationship, having spent time with  him, allows him to be quite candid  as he has been in the past and he  will continue to be, White House  press secretary Jen Psaki said in  previewing the encounter.

Biden and Xi, ages 78 and 68  respectively, first got to know  each other on travels across the  U.S. and China when both were  vice presidents, interactions that  both leaders say left a lasting impression. Of late, there have been  signs that there could be at least a  partial thawing after the first nine months of the Biden administration were marked by the two sides  trading recriminations and by  unproductive exchanges between  the presidents’ top advisers. Last  week, for example, the U.S. and China pledged at U.N. climate talks  in Glasgow, Scotland, to increase  their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging  emissions. Monday’s meeting the  two leaders’ third engagement since Biden became president  comes amid mounting tensions in  the U.S.-China relationship. The  two held long phone calls in February and September where they  discussed human rights, trade, the  pandemic and other issues.

Biden has made clear that he  sees China as the United States’  greatest national security and economic competitor and has tried to  reframe American foreign policy  to reflect that belief. His administration has taken Beijing to task  over committing human rights  abuses against ethnic minorities  in northwest China, squelching  pro-democracy efforts in Hong  Kong and resisting global pressure  to cooperate fully with investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Tensions have  also risen as the Chinese military  has flown increasing numbers of  sorties near the self-ruled island of  Taiwan, which Beijing considers  part of its territory. Chinese officials have signalled that Taiwan  will be a top issue for the talks. Biden has made clear that his administration will abide by the longstanding U.S.

One China” policy, which recognises Beijing but allows informal  relations and defense ties with Taipei. Chinese military forces held  exercises last week near Taiwan  in response to a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation to the island.

The president intends, in part, to  use the conversation to underscore  the need to establish guardrails in  the relationship to ensure that the  two sides in the midst of their stiff  competition avoid unintended conflict,” according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on White House planning  for the meeting and spoke on the  condition of anonymity. The official said the video call is expected  to last several hours,” adding that  the White House was hopeful that  the two leaders’ seeing each other&