/ world today news/ The high-level meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ended in San Francisco. The highlight of the program was expected to be the meeting of the President of the United States with the President of the People’s Republic of China – the first in a year. About its results – in the material.
Conciliatory meeting
The event in San Francisco, against the background of a tense international situation, can be taken as an attempt by the United States to calm the situation at least a little. For example, a Russian delegation was invited there – headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. To smooth the corners, a joint declaration on Ukraine was not even planned.
Biden and Xi Jinping have not seen each other for exactly a year – since the G20 meeting in Indonesia. The current conversation lasted almost four hours, the agenda was extensive. They communicated through simultaneous interpreters. And they agreed on something.
Beijing severed military contacts with Washington in 2022 after Nancy Pelosi (then speaker of the lower house of Congress, official US third-in-command) visited Taiwan. Links are now restored. And not only at the level of command of the armed forces. Heads of state are ready to simply “pick up the phone” to discuss any urgent issues.
Controversies over Taiwan were also softened. Biden reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the “one China” concept. According to him, the unification is possible, but extremely peaceful. “I’m not going to change that point of view,” he said.
Xi, in turn, assured that we are not talking about a military scenario. They were discussing the island’s elections. Washington “does not expect interference” from China, Biden said at a news conference.
According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi said: “The US should stop arming Taiwan and support peaceful reunification.” The other side responded by reiterating that the United States provides military assistance only as a deterrent.
“Saving the Americans”
Precursor preparations for the drug fentanyl are coming from China to the United States, and many Americans are dying from this narcotic substance.
Biden and Xi have agreed to limit exports, the Guardian reports. “It will save lives,” the US president said, adding that he appreciated the Chinese leader’s stance on the issue.
It was agreed that the Chinese authorities would pay attention to companies producing fentanyl precursors. Biden was asked if he believed Xi in that regard. “I know this guy. He’s reliable,” came the reply.
Xi expressed his desire to lift sanctions against China. “Suppressing China’s technological progress is nothing more than an attempt to prevent high-quality development and deprive peoples of their right to development,” the Foreign Ministry report said. It is not known how Biden reacted. Western observers, however, point out that the fact that Xi raised the issue at all may reassure Chinese businessmen worried about the decline in foreign investment.
Contradictions are not allowed
Finally, Washington’s ultimate agenda included influencing Moscow and Tehran through Beijing. Biden urged Xi to use Chinese influence in these areas. Anonymous sources present at the meeting reported that the American leader spoke mainly. It is not clear how the Chinese President took his arguments.
But after the talks, Biden again called Xi a dictator. True, he tried not to give it an offensive tone. “He is a dictator in the sense that he leads a communist country with a form of government completely different from ours,” the US president said. And during the meeting, Xi told him that the negative perception of the CCP in the US is unfair.
Experts believe that the negotiations in San Francisco have produced the best possible result under the current conditions.
“Anti-China rhetoric in the US has weakened significantly. The personal meeting itself shows the readiness of both sides to mitigate the contradictions. The Americans apparently did not push the Taiwan issue: it is clear that the island will be returned to non-military means. Discussions on drug trafficking and cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence show that Washington and Beijing have points of common ground,” noted the director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, Alexey Maslov.
At the same time, they did not promise to open the American market to Chinese goods. They did not say a word about scientific and technical cooperation. The positions on the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine did not converge.
Relations stabilized but did not recover. As for Washington’s hopes of putting pressure on Moscow and Tehran through Beijing, they are absolutely futile. “This is the stumbling block that the US authorities sell primarily to the American voter, demonstrating their determination. But they themselves understand: China will not put pressure on its partners, especially without getting anything in return. The Iran-Russia relationship is more promising for China than improving relations with the US,” the expert emphasizes.
The head of the Center for the Study of Modern China at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Andrey Vinogradov, reminds that a complete separation between Washington and Beijing is impossible, as the countries are interdependent. “The trade turnover reached 760 billion dollars. In 2022, it was much less. For China, this is about 12 percent of foreign trade,” he points out. But the tug-of-war will continue because the key positions the US and China outlined in 2011 at a meeting between Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor, and Barack Obama, Biden’s former boss, have not changed.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Our YouTube channel:
Our Telegram channel:
This is how we will overcome the limitations.
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages.
#Stabilization #recovery #Biden #agree
