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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Trump looms over Biden’s final meeting with Xi in Peru
By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN
Updated:
7:38 PM EST, Sat November 16, 2024
Source: CNN
President and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, closed the book on
their diplomatic relationship Saturday, meeting for a final time amid
uncertainty over what the next presidency might portend for their two
countries’ ties.
As they opened the talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit of Pacific
leaders in Lima, both men described the relationship between Washington
and Beijing as “the most important” in the entire world, one that
could quickly tilt into global conflict if not carefully managed.
Behind closed doors, the leaders hashed out a range of contentious
issues that will undoubtedly continue into the next administration. As
the talks concluded, the men put down their notes for a moment of
reflection on what has been a lengthy and layered relationship.
For his part, Xi said he was prepared to maintain stable ties once
Biden exits the world stage. Left largely unspoken were the deep
questions about what Trump intends to do when he takes office in 65
days.
“The United States has recently concluded its elections,” Xi told
Biden through a translator. “China’s goal of a stable, healthy and
sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged.”
“Make the wise choice,” Xi said, somewhat ominously. “Keep
exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with
each other.”
The comments amounted to as clear a sign as any that China is now
looking past Biden toward his successor. After more than a decade of
encounters, the moment was likely the last time Biden and Xi will meet
before Trump is inaugurated in January.
Xi didn’t mention Trump by name, but his opening comments suggested a
degree of concern about what the incoming administration might have in
store.
“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain
communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to
strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the
benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said.
Biden used the meeting to raise a series of contentious issues with Xi
one last time, including Taiwan, the economy, Ukraine and fentanyl
production. The leaders also reached a new agreement that artificial
intelligence never be allowed to replace human control of nuclear
weapons.
Biden acknowledged the relationship had seen its “ups and downs”
since he took office.
But it was also a moment for reflection on a relationship that began
more than a decade ago, over a long meal in Chengdu.
That was an episode that left deep impressions on the president, at
least judging by how often he recounts it. A search of Biden’s
speeches over the past four years finds 61 instances of him describing
a moment at the end of the evening when, asked by Xi to define America,
he came up with a single word: possibilities.
He brought up the dinner again as he prepared to say farewell to Xi for
a final time.
“I remember being on the Tibetan plateau with you, and I remember
being in Beijing and all over the world, first as vice president and
then as president,” Biden said. “We haven’t always agreed, but
our conversations have always been candid and always been frank. We
have never kidded one another. We’ve been level with one another. And
I think that’s vital.”
In the end, looking backward may be more productive for Biden and Xi
than trying to predict what’s next for their two nations.
Trump’s has been the overwhelming backdrop to the summit of Pacific
leaders in Lima this week, for an uncertain future.
Trump’s embrace of tariffs, autocrats and isolationist viewpoints
runs mostly counter to the foreign policy principles Biden spent the
past four years espousing on the world stage.
Yet Trump’s unpredictability might be the most disconcerting for the
leaders gathered in Lima. That includes Xi, who regularly encourages
stability above all else in his public pronouncements.
Still scarred from a chaotic first administration and looking for clues
of whether Trump will adopt a more level approach during his second
go-around, world leaders have not been encouraged by the . Talk of , ,
and former has permeated even the back hallways of the Lima Convention
Center, where the APEC summit is convening.
Preparing for Trump
In some ways, Trump is hardly a mystery to Xi and his Chinese advisers,
who spent four years dealing with him before Biden entered office. But
like most of Trump’s policy choices, how he chooses to approach the
world’s most consequential bilateral relationship this time around is
anyone’s guess.
With just two months until Trump is inaugurated, top Chinese Communist
Party officials have been trying to glean from foreign policy experts
whether his campaign rhetoric will translate into his real agenda,
according to people involved in the conversations.
The questions Chinese officials are raising, these people say, include
Trump’s proposed hikes to his sweeping tariff programs; his posture
toward Taiwan; his relationship with the leaders of Japan and South
Korea; and the military footprint he plans to pursue in the
Indo-Pacific.
Beijing has also taken stock of the China hawks with whom Trump plans
to staff his Cabinet — including at the State Department and as his
national security adviser. And Chinese officials are openly speculating
on whether alternate channels of communication to Trump — through ,
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, or Trump’s son-in-law — might
help them soften the hardline stance the personnel selections have
promoted.
There are signs pointing toward a more aggressive stance, including his
hawkish choices for top national security roles. He’s on Chinese
imports, a move that would inject new volatility into an already
contentious relationship.
But there’s also the memory of his attempts at cultivating a
relationship with Xi during his first administration, hoping to secure
trade agreements and improve other areas of cooperation. Ultimately,
Trump and Xi inked a trade deal in which China agreed, among other
things, to purchase hundreds of billions of dollars in American goods,
which it never ended up buying.
The trade disputes, along with Xi’s attempts at obscuring the origins
of the coronavirus, eventually soured ties between the two men. How
Trump proceeds could have wide implications for the region and world.
Those stakes aside, there was little Biden could say to Xi that would
likely reassure him of smooth Washington-Beijing ties in the years
ahead. Biden administration officials acknowledge they have little
insight into what a notoriously unpredictable leader might be planning.
In the meeting Saturday, Biden didn’t attempt to predict what might
happen to the US-China relationship once he exits office in January,
nor did he act as a conduit for messages between Xi and the incoming
administration. His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan,
acknowledged afterward that the Trump transition team “is not in the
business of providing us assurances about anything.”
“It’s our job to do all that we can to set the new administration
up as effectively as possible, and then they will decide how they’ll
take things forward,” Sullivan said.
Instead, Biden in the meeting sought to underscore with Xi the
importance of maintaining honest and straightforward lines of
communication.
“What has made the relationship between the two of them function
effectively is that they’re able to be very straight with one
another, even disagree, and that level of candor, directness — even
bluntness, at times — has been critical in helping see us through
some choppy waters at times,” Sullivan said.
An opportunity to look back on a consequential relationship
— on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Bali and at an estate outside
San Francisco — the Lima talks weren’t expected to result in a
major list of outcomes.
The men were expected to talk about the usual topics — including
Taiwan, Ukraine, fentanyl production and human rights — along with
some new irritations, namely China’s alleged efforts to hack
Trump’s cellphone along with other devices associated with his
campaign.
But it was mostly an opportunity to look back on what has been a
lengthy and somewhat complicated relationship.
For Xi, the meeting with Biden represented a delicate endeavor. Meeting
with the outgoing US president is a way to show respect for the office
and signal stability in the relationship, but major negotiations will
loom with Trump once he takes over in January.
“The upside is tiny and the downside is enormous if Trump thinks
they’re stealing his thunder or (the two leaders) are making deals
that would tie Trump’s hands,” said one source familiar with the
dynamic.
The two men came to know each other when each was serving as vice
president. When it became clear Xi — then something of a mystery to
American officials — was poised to take over leadership in China,
Biden was dispatched by the Obama administration to take his
temperature.
Biden likes to brag that he’s traveled tens of thousands of miles
with Xi, and that among his fellow world leaders he’s spent the most
time with him. And while that may have been true at one point, Xi has
clearly turned his attention to deepening his relationship with another
leader: Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The “no limits” partnership the two men declared earlier in
Biden’s term has concerned US, European and Asian officials alike,
who see a between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as one of the
biggest future security threats. Already, the US has assessed China is
to Russia to produce missiles, aircraft and tanks used in its war
against Ukraine. And revelations that Pyongyang to Russia for fighting
in Ukraine have loomed over talks in Peru this week.
A key counterweight could be Biden’s legacy
How Trump confronts those threats is not something he’s discussed at
great length, at least as a candidate.
Speaking Friday, Biden acknowledged the world faces “a moment of
significant political change” as he hailed a strengthened three-way
partnership between the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Biden’s efforts to bring Tokyo and Seoul into closer partnership
after years of historical acrimony amount to a major facet of his
legacy in East Asia and his attempt to create counterweight to China.
It’s also an area his aides believe could — and should — be
continued by the incoming Trump administration, though they acknowledge
they have little to go on when it comes to the president-elect’s
intentions.
Biden conceded Friday the meeting between himself, South Korea’s Yoon
Suk Yeol and Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, was likely
to be his last such encounter before he steps aside in January.
But he said his efforts to bring the three nations closer — after
years of historical acrimony and tensions — would endure.
“I think it’s built to last,” he said. “It’s my hope and
expectation.”
This story has been updated with new reporting.
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