By Ken Afor
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held their first in-person talks in over a year and made strides towards having more positive relations between the two countries.
The two political figures agreed to open a direct communication line, re-establish respective military communications and take action to reduce the production of fentanyl.
For approximately four hours, Biden and Xi convened on the outskirts of San Francisco to tackle topics that have caused tension between the United States and China.
China intends to re-establish their military communication which was cut off after the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, went to Taiwan in August 2022.
“We’re back to direct, open, clear direct communication on a direct basis,” Biden said.
In addition, Biden said he and Xi agreed to high-level communications. “He and I agreed that each one of us can pick up the phone call directly and we’ll be heard immediately.”
Joe Biden later commented in a manner likely to annoy the Chinese when he stated that his opinion of President Xi Jinping as a dictator had not been altered.
“Well, look, he is. I mean, he’s a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country,” Biden said.
Biden was informed by Xi that the United States’ negative views on the Communist Party were not justifiable, according to a U.S official who gave a statement to the press after their meeting.
Biden and Xi entered the negotiations with the goal of repairing the turbulent nature of their countries’ relationship following the U.S.’s downing of an assumed Chinese surveillance balloon that traveled across American airspace in February.
Biden stated that he had broached topics of Washington’s concern such as the imprisonment of United States citizens, human rights matters, and Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
“Just talking, just being blunt with one another so there’s no misunderstanding,” Biden said.
On the military and Taiwan, U.S. President Joe Biden asked for the formal institutionalizing of military-to-military dialogues between both countries.
Furthermore, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is set to meet the soon-to-be-named Chinese counterpart, according to a high-ranking American official.
Over the course of the past year, there have been numerous near-misses and acrimonious exchanges between the U.S. and China’s armed forces.
President Biden and President Xi have reached an understanding that China will stem the export of substances used to make fentanyl, a substance largely responsible for drug overdoses in the USA.
Biden expressed his appreciation of Xi’s commitment to this reform, noting that it ‘will save lives’.
As per the agreement, a senior U.S. official informed reporters that China will pursue certain chemical companies that manufacture fentanyl precursors. He reaffirmed to ‘trust but verify’ China’s actions regarding the drug.
Additionally, the two leaders decided to constitute a collaborative task force made up of experts to investigate the perils of artificial intelligence.
Xi reportedly told Biden that while China prefers to pursue peaceful reunification with Taiwan, conditions exist in which force could be used to resolve the issue of the Chinese-claimed island.
A U.S. official recounted the details of the exchange between Biden and Xi concerning Taiwan, a democratic island that China has long maintained is its own territory.
Biden highlighted the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and expressed the need to maintain the status quo, also urging China to recognize Taiwan’s electoral process.
“President Xi responded ‘Look, peace is all well and good, but at some point we need to move towards resolution more generally’,” the official quoted Xi as saying.
Chinese state media reported that President Xi Jinping urged the United States to cease its provision of arms to Taiwan and back China’s initiative of peaceful ”reunification” with the island.
Biden stated that he had implored Xi to exercise his authority with Iran to dissuade them from mounting proxy assaults on American objectives in the Middle East while the Israel-Hamas dispute remains ongoing in Gaza.
At the Filoli estate, located almost 30 miles (48 km) away from San Francisco, Biden warmly greeted the Chinese leader in preparation for their summit at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The estate, which consists of a country house and expertly groomed gardens, is where the two leaders will proceed.
Seeking respect from the United States, Xi entered the meeting as China strives to revive its economy from its slothful growth.
Biden, desiring the meeting for a long time, used a welcoming and respectful attitude to demonstrate his regard of him as a major contributor to international conflicts.
At a long table in an ornate conference room, Xi and Biden, along with their respective delegations, sat across from each other, as Xi addressed Biden saying the “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,”
Biden said the U.S. and China had to ensure that competition between them “does not veer into conflict” and manage their relationship “responsibly.”
The leaders took a stroll through the well-kept garden of the mansion after an interaction of about four hours. When reporters asked how the meeting went, Biden gave a two thumbs up sign and said, ‘Well!’
Since their meeting in Bali a year ago, Xi informed Biden that a lot had transpired as they began their conversations. “The world has emerged from the COVID pandemic, but is still under its tremendous impacts. The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish.”
He called the U.S.-China relationship “the most important bilateral relationship in the world,” and said he and Biden “shoulder heavy responsibilities for the two peoples, for the world, and for history.”
“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” he said. “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Leaders of the 21-country APEC group are holding a meeting in San Francisco with hundreds of CEOs present, during a relatively fragile Chinese economy, Beijing’s ongoing territorial disputes with bordering countries, and a Middle East conflict that is creating a rift between the US and its allies.
