As the most powerful Chinese leader in generations, Xi Jinping rarely bothers to glad-hand or to try charming a crowd. His public appearances in China are carefully crafted, with fawning cadres and adoring fans carefully positioned around him. So when Mr. Xi landed in San Francisco this week to meet with President Biden, to try to stabilize a relationship with the United States that has been spiraling downward, it provided a rare opportunity to see the Chinese leader up close and, at times, less filtered than usual. There were a…
Tag: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Biden and Xi Make Nice Despite U.S.-China Tensions
In Washington, President Xi Jinping of China is largely considered a mysterious autocrat who has long harbored a fatalistic view of his country’s relationship with the United States. But for a brief moment on Wednesday, at a century-old gilded mansion in the hills of Northern California, President Biden treated Mr. Xi like just another car guy. “It’s a beautiful vehicle!” Mr. Biden said as he walked the Chinese leader to his car, an armored, 18-foot Hongqi sedan, after a long day of diplomatic wrangling, according to a video published by…
Day After Xi Meeting, Biden Says U.S. Has ‘Real Differences’ With China
President Biden said Thursday that the United States has “real differences with Beijing,” one day after he after he held an hourslong meeting with President Xi Jinping of China at a moment of deep tension between the two countries. Speaking to executives at the APEC summit in San Francisco, Mr. Biden noted that he and Mr. Xi had agreed to resume military to military communication to “reduce the risk of miscalculation” — a line that got a round of applause from the room. “We have real differences with Beijing,” Mr.…
Biden-Xi Talks Lead to Little but a Promise to Keep Talking
President Biden said on Wednesday that four hours of discussion with President Xi Jinping of China had brought about two significant agreements, on curbing fentanyl production and on military-to-military communications. But both American and Chinese accounts of their first encounter in a year indicated little progress on the issues that have pushed the two nations to the edge of conflict. Emerging from the talks, and a brief walk with Mr. Xi on the grounds of a mansion south of San Francisco, Mr. Biden told reporters that the conversation had been…
Biden’s Goal in Meeting With Xi: Avoid a Spiraling Conflict
When President Biden meets President Xi Jinping of China at a lush estate on the edge of Silicon Valley on Wednesday, his primary goal will be simple: find a way to avoid an increasingly bitter competition with China from tipping into conflict. For two leaders who have agreed on very little as their nations have spiraled into their worst relationship in four decades, there have been hints of how they will try to nudge toward the appearance of agreement. A senior administration official said they are expected to reach the…
U.S. Manages Expectations of a Breakthrough Before Biden and Xi Meet
Of all the issues dividing the United States and China — spy balloons, Beijing’s rapid nuclear buildup and Washington’s crackdown on advanced computer chips — the White House has been engaged in one more topic of debate: what China’s leader will see when he looks out of his window during his visit to California this week. When President Biden meets with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, China’s diplomats want to know what Mr. Xi will be looking at, and to make sure the scenery does not include protesters. Nearly every…
Biden and Xi to Seek to Stabilize Relations in California Meeting
President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China plan to meet in California on Wednesday, for a discussion that Mr. Biden’s advisers say is meant to stabilize relations even as it features a host of topics on which the two fiercely competitive countries disagree. The Biden administration, which formally announced the meeting on Friday morning, said the two leaders would have the highly choreographed discussion as they attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. In a call with reporters on Thursday, two senior advisers to Mr. Biden said…
Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Will Meet With Chinese Counterpart
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen will hold two days of high-level meetings with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, this week, as the United States and China look to build upon an effort that started this year to improve communication between the world’s two largest economies. The meetings will take place on Thursday and Friday in San Francisco ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which begins on Saturday. The meetings will help lay the groundwork for expected talks at the summit between President Biden and China’s top leader,…
Gavin Newsom, on Climate Mission to China, Meets With Xi Jinping
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Wednesday, according to the Chinese state media, as part of an ambitious weeklong mission to negotiate climate partnerships. The two-term Democratic governor wants California to set an aggressive pace for the United States — and the world — to cut carbon emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Mr. Newsom’s moves to tackle the climate crisis have elevated his national profile, just as he is widely believed to be preparing for a White House run…
Xi-Schumer Meeting Raises Hopes of Smoother U.S.-China Relations
China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, met with Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, in Beijing on Monday and expressed hopes of “peaceful coexistence” between China and the United States, even as escalating violence in the Middle East threatens to deepen a wedge between the two powers. “We have 1,000 reasons to make China-U.S. relations work well and not a single reason to make China-U.S. relations bad,” Mr. Xi said while meeting with the Democratic senator from New York. Mr. Xi’s amicable tone is likely to increase expectations that he will…