By Summary
- Trump’s return casts a shadow over U.S.-China relations
- Biden and Xi met for about two hours at APEC talks in Lima
- Discussions focused on cybercrime, trade, Taiwan, North Korea, and Russia
LIMA, Peru (AfrikTimes) – Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to work with the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on conflicts from cybercrime to trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Russia.
Biden met Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months. “China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged” after Trump’s election, Xi said as he met Biden, acknowledging “ups and downs” between the countries. “China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences.”
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, APEC Summit, Lima, November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis.
Biden noted that while the two leaders have not always agreed, their discussions have been “frank” and “candid.” With two months remaining before Trump assumes office, U.S. officials expressed concerns over heightened risks of conflict during the transition. Biden emphasized the importance of continuing leader-to-leader talks even after his term ends, according to Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
The president-elect has proposed imposing 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods as part of his “America First” trade strategy, a move strongly opposed by Beijing. Trump also plans to appoint several China hawks to senior positions, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser. Biden, by contrast, has sought to de-escalate tensions with China, though no major breakthroughs were reported during the talks.
U.S. President Joe Biden at APEC talks in Lima, Peru, on November 15, 2024.
However, Biden and Xi did reach an agreement on the critical issue of nuclear weapons, deciding that decisions regarding their use should rest with human beings, not artificial intelligence, according to the White House. This marks the first time both countries are known to have discussed this issue.
The U.S. and Chinese presidents also talked about North Korea, an ally of China whose deepening ties with Russia and deployment of troops in Moscow’s war with Ukraine have raised concerns in Washington, Beijing and European capitals. “President Biden pointed out that the People’s Republic of China’s publicly stated position with respect to the war in Ukraine is there should be no escalation, no broadening the conflict, and that the deployment of North Korean troops runs foursquare against that,” said Sullivan.
“Biden also pointed out that the People’s Republic of China does have influence and capacity, and should use it to try to prevent a further escalation or further expansion of the conflict with the introduction of even more Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s forces.”
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, APEC Summit, Lima, November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis.
MAJOR ISSUES
Other major issues raised at the meeting included a recent China-linked hack of the telephone communications of U.S. government and presidential campaign officials, stepped-up pressure by Beijing on Taiwan and in the South China Sea, as well as Chinese support for Russia. Biden also raised the cases of Americans he believes are wrongly detained in China.
On Taiwan, the leaders reportedly had a heated exchange. Biden called for an end to Beijing’s “destabilizing” military activities around the island, the White House said. Xi, however, said the “‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities” of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te were incompatible with peace and stability there, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. Lai plans to stop in the U.S. state of Hawaii and maybe Guam on a sensitive visit that is sure to anger Beijing in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on Friday.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked Biden for his comments, and said China was the troublemaker. “China’s persistent military provocations around Taiwan are the greatest source of damage to regional peace and stability and a major threat to global economic prosperity,” it said in a statement. Taiwan’s former Economy Minister Lin Hsin-i also met with Biden at the summit on Friday and invited him to visit Taiwan in the near future.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President Joe Biden on November 16, 2024, in Lima, Peru. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
China views Taiwan, which operates as a democratically governed entity, as its own territory, while Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims. The U.S., despite not formally recognizing Taiwan, is its primary international ally and arms supplier.
At the same time, Beijing’s economy is taking a stiff hit from Biden’s steps on trade, including a plan to restrict U.S. investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors, and export restrictions on high-end computer chips. Biden has described those steps as necessary for U.S. national security reasons and said they do not impede most trade.
During the meeting, Xi said no evidence supported the claim of Chinese involvement in cyber-attacks, according to Chinese state media. He also told Biden that Washington should not get involved in disputes in the Spratly Islands, the subject of a dispute between China and the U.S.-allied Philippines. Beijing has rejected a 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which said its expansive maritime claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis, in a case that was brought by Manila.
“When the two countries treat each other as partner and friend, seek common ground while shelving differences and help each other succeed, our relationship would make considerable progress,” Xi told Biden through an interpreter. “But if we take each other as rivals or adversary, pursue vicious competition, and seek to hurt each other, we would roil the relationship or even set it back.”
President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 16, 2024, in Lima, Peru. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
The two leaders also reflected on the dynamics of their long relationship, with Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, noting the candid and direct nature of their discussions.
Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, said China wants to ease tensions during the transition period. “China definitely does not want relations with the United States to be thrown into turmoil before Trump formally takes office,” said Shen.
Pacific Rim leaders gathered at the APEC summit are assessing the implications of Trump’s return to power on Jan. 20. The South American summit offers new signs of the challenges to the United States’ power in its own backyard, where China is on a diplomatic offensive.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders’ summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.
Xi, who arrived in Lima on Thursday, is undertaking a week-long diplomatic tour of Latin America, which includes the renegotiation of a free-trade agreement with Peru, the inauguration of the Chancay deep-water port there, and a state visit to Brazil’s capital next week. China also announced plans to host the APEC summit in 2026.
China is keen to secure Latin America’s metal ores, soybeans, and other commodities, but U.S. officials worry that Beijing is also seeking new military and intelligence footholds near U.S. borders. Chinese state-run media has labeled these concerns as unfounded accusations.
A worker walks past a sign presenting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit outside the Ministry of Culture in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.
