US President Joe Biden wants to point “red lines” to Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting on Monday. “There are very few misunderstandings between us. We just need to find out where the red lines are – and what are the most important things for each of us in the next two years,” Biden said ahead of the meeting. The talks ahead of the G20 Indonesia summit are the first bilateral meeting with Xi since Biden took office.
China-US relations are at a low. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan estimated the meeting on the resort island of Bali could last several hours. “The president sees the US and China in fierce competition, but this competition must not degenerate into conflict or confrontation and must be resolved responsibly,” he warned. All countries, including the US and China, must act according to a set of “well-established and agreed-upon rules”. “Use of intimidation, coercion or aggression” should be avoided.
Biden and Xi meet the day before the start of the Group of Major Economists (G20) two-day summit in Nusa Dua. The list of controversial issues is long: China’s support for Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine, the US trade war and sanctions, China’s agitation against democratic Taiwan and its territorial claims in the South China Sea. . China, in turn, accuses the United States of wanting to prevent its rise in the world. The US increasingly sees China as a rival and a threat.
The aim of the talks is also to identify areas in which China and the United States share interests, Sullivan announced. These are, for example, climate change or public health. Both countries should also work together on these topics. Personal exchange at the highest level is the most effective way. The White House had already lowered expectations last week and said there would likely not be a joint statement after the meeting.
Biden arrived in Bali on Sunday night (local time). He can go to the meeting with Xi and the G20 summit strengthened: in the US, Biden’s Democrats managed to secure a majority in the Senate after the important midterm elections – an electoral success for the US president. Midway through the term, disaster was predicted for Democrats and a wave of success for Republicans. Both failed. However, Republicans have a good chance of securing a slim majority in the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives.
Biden himself repeatedly emphasizes that after former President Donald Trump was in the White House, allies continued to ask about the reliability of the US as a partner. Sullivan stressed that Biden believes the election result puts him in a strong position on the international stage.
(apa, dpa)