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.…
Tag: United States International Relations
For Biden, a Subtle Shift in the Power Balance With China’s Xi Jinping
When President Biden met President Xi Jinping on Wednesday on the edges of Silicon Valley, there was a subtle but noticeable shift in the power dynamic between two countries that have spent most of the past few years denouncing, undercutting and imposing sanctions on each other. For the first time in years, a Chinese leader desperately needed a few things from the United States. Mr. Xi’s list at the summit started with a revival of American financial investments in China and a break in the technology export controls that have,…
Biden Met With Xi, in an Effort to Lower the Heat
President Biden met today with Xi Jinping, the president of China, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in California. It was their first conversation in a year, and both leaders framed the meeting as a step toward easing tensions that had dramatically worsened in recent years. “Planet Earth is big enough” for both superpowers, Xi said, adding that their countries should be “fully capable of rising above differences.” Aides to Biden said that his primary goal was finding a way to avoid the bitter competition with China…
Panda Diplomacy Might Not Be Dead Just Yet
The fur balls might be coming back to Washington and San Diego. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said in a speech on Wednesday night that his nation’s best diplomats, giant pandas, might soon return to zoos in the United States that have recently sent bears back to their homeland. “We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” he told a gathering of mostly…
China’s Xi Jinping Draws Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Other U.S. CEOs to Gala in San Francisco
The streets outside the San Francisco hotel where the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, addressed a crowd of American business executives Wednesday night were chaotic, echoing with police sirens and the chants of protesters. A woman had strapped herself to a pole 25 feet in the air in front of the hotel, yelling “Free Tibet!” as a cold rain fell. But inside the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency, the atmosphere was warm and friendly. More than 300 executives and officials listened attentively as Mr. Xi — the leader of a country…
What the Biden-Xi Talks Accomplished (and Didn’t)
Biden and Xi try direct diplomacy The mood music was upbeat but pragmatic after the first face-to-face meeting in a year between President Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. There was no joint communiqué after Wednesday’s talks, but both sides issued positive statements trumpeting where they found common ground, including on tackling climate change and improving communications. The San Francisco summit, and Xi’s banquet with American business leaders afterward, were signs of how entwined the economies remain despite years of rising tensions — and why both sides and many…
In Talks With Biden, Xi Defends China’s Rise, While Seeking to Reassure
Meeting with President Biden for the first time in a year, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, reiterated his determination to unify with Taiwan, but stopped short of mentioning the potential use of force. He denounced what he called futile American efforts at containing China, but also acknowledged that U.S. tech restrictions had taken a toll. And he broadcast that China had global ambitions for its influence — while also trying to reassure the world that those ambitions did not have to lead to conflict with the United States. Mr. Xi’s message…
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…
U.S. to Press China to Stop Flow of Fentanyl
President Biden will press the Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday to crack down on the Chinese firms that are helping to produce fentanyl, a potent drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. An agreement to curb China’s illicit exports of fentanyl — and particularly the chemicals that can be combined to make the drug — could be one of the more significant achievements for the United States out of Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi’s meeting, which is taking place as leaders from Pacific nations gather for an…
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…