Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet for the first time in person since the election of the president of the United States. Monday’s appointment in neutral territory, on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali, is an opportunity for the two long-time acquaintances to return to look each other in the eyes and break the downward spiral that has brought relations between the two superpowers to a minimum. since Richard Nixon went to Beijing half a century ago.
From Taiwan to Russia and North Korea, passing through tariffs, the tightening on chips and the economy in a broader sense, relations between the United States and China are in fact disastrous, with the two countries competing openly and without no holds barred on the global stage. Political and economic supremacy is at stake. And to try to restart the dialogue, a face-to-face meeting could help.
Even though the idea of a G2 seems light years away and no joint statement is expected at the end of the summit, Biden and Xi have no interest in exasperating an already tense situation. The balances are delicate: the alliance between Beijing and Moscow continues to shake the White House, which does not expect any condemnation or criticism of Vladimir Putin from Xi in front of Biden. And there is a substantial chill on the Taiwan issue, especially after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island who risked questioning the one-China policy mantra.
Not to mention the concerns about Chinese military strengthening, in particular nuclear, the economic dossier that includes the malfunctioning of supply chains due to Covid, the human rights node in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and cyber security. At the same time, however, the American president is aware of the centrality of China in stemming Kim Jong-un’s North Korea which, with its ballistic missile program, threatens some of America’s great allies. Beijing should curb Pyongyang’s “worst trends”, is the message that Biden will deliver to Xi. To try to balance China’s military and political rise in the area, the head of the White House is looking to strengthen the Asian front.
In Cambodia for the ASEAN summit before flying to Bali, Biden never mentioned Beijing, but it is clear that his words were addressed to China: “Together we will face the great challenges of our times, from climate change to health security, we will defend ourselves from significant threats to the rules-based order and we will build a free, open, stable, resilient and safe Indo-Pacific area “, said the US leader after wrongly thanking the premier of” Colombia “and not Cambodia. host of the summit. After Phonm Penh, the stage is the G20 in Indonesia, where the US leader will also see Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and will have the opportunity to try to give further impetus to the pro-Ukraine coalition. It is in this context that the meeting with Xi falls, whose real objective appears to be only one: to prevent political and economic competition from translating into unintended consequences, and to try to stabilize relations on the Washington-Beijing axis with a direct between the two presidents, focusing on dialogue and the weapons of diplomacy to address misunderstandings and tensions.