Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping Talk Yields Agreements

Updated Nov. 16, 2023, 1:30 p.m. EST

• President Biden and President Xi emerged from their meeting with an agreement to cooperate moving forward. The hours-long talk yielded understandings that could introduce stability to the relationship, according to analysts.
• The nations agreed to resume high-level military-to-military dialogue, which was paused after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last year. Biden expressed relief that the talks would be back up and running. 
• In an address to U.S. business leaders, the Chinese president said there is "plenty of room for our corporations, and we are fully able to help each other succeed and achieve win-win outcomes."
• In a news conference after their meeting, Biden said he would not lean towards taking a lighter stance on China. When describing the relationship between him and Xi, he said:

"I know the man, I know his modus operandi. He's a dictator in the sense that he — he is a guy who runs a country that — it's a communist country that is based on a form of government totally different from ours."

What's the story?

• Biden is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco from Nov. 15-17.
• While there is an "agreement in principle" for the two to meet, Xi has not yet confirmed his attendance. Beijing has suggested that Xi's attendance depends on the U.S. showing "sufficient sincerity."
• The leaders have not convened since last year at the G20 summit in Bali. 
• APEC is a group of 21 member economies that accounts for roughly 62% of global gross domestic profit and half of international trade. Member countries include Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, and Indonesia.
• Negative views of China have grown in America across both dominating political parties. Americans widely see China as the greatest threat to the nation, according to the Pew Research Center.

What is expected?

• Observers believe the two leaders will strive to stabilize the tension between the two nations, but don't expect any major revelations. The planned meeting comes at a time of high tension between the two countries over issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea.
• Some experts have pointed to the increase in commercial flights between the two countries and steps towards reducing the flow of fentanyl chemicals from China as signs that the relationship may be showing small signs of improvement. 
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng as well. She said that it was "not practical" to decouple the two economies, but acknowledged that the U.S. was decreasing its dependence on China. 
• The meeting follows an arms control discussion between China and the U.S. that occurred last Monday, in which the two powers discussed nuclear weapons.

What people are saying

• Victor Cha, an Asia expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said:

"It's going to be very business-like, very hard nosed - a lot on the agenda that they're both going to be trying to work through. But at the same time, I guess, talking is better than not talking."

• Matthew Goodman, the White House coordinator for the 2011 U.S.-hosted APEC summit, said: 

"There are a lot of concerns about China's economic conditions and its policies in the region. I don't think they're going to explicitly try and twist the knife as it were, but I think they will try to show by comparison that the U.S. is growing well."

• Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said:

"I think just having real communication is the biggest deliverable and possibly a step toward a situation in which if there is a crisis the two sides can agree to actually talk immediately."

• Dina Smetlz, a senior fellow for public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council, noted that a record level of Americans currently see China as a critical threat to the U.S. The Chicago Council has been polling American views on China since 1990. Smetlz continued:

"It's also the first time in any of our polls that we saw that a majority — some of it's a slim majority — of Republicans, Democrats and independents all see China as a threat."

Are you worried about U.S.-China relations?

-Emma Kansiz & Jamie Epstein

(Photo Credit: Reuters)