APEC Summit
Biden-Xi Talks Lead to Little
but a Promise to Keep Talking
·
One
of the critical issues, barring the use of artificial intelligence in the command
and control systems of their nuclear arsenals
·
Mr.
Biden went out of his way to show respect for Mr. Xi, greeting him at the entrance
to Filoli, a century-old mansion with gardens that was
chosen as a private locale for the leaders of the world’s two most critical military,
technological and economic superpowers to talk.
·
“Planet
Earth is big enough” for both superpowers.
·
Fentanyl,
a potent drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Mr. Biden later
described the outline of an agreement that would commit Beijing to regulating components
of fentanyl. But China has made similar commitments before.
[ABS News Service/16.11.2023]
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 the
“most constructive and productive” between the two men since Mr. Biden had come
to office. The agreements they announced were modest, however, and their most
important commitments were to keep talking and to pick up the phone in times of
crisis.
On
one of the critical issues, barring the use of artificial intelligence in the
command and control systems of their nuclear arsenals, no formal set of
discussions was established. Instead, Mr. Biden’s aides said that Jake
Sullivan, the national security adviser, would keep talking with Wang Yi,
China’s chief foreign affairs official.
Mr.
Biden went out of his way to show respect for Mr. Xi, greeting him at the
entrance to Filoli, a century-old mansion with
gardens that was chosen as a private locale for the leaders of the world’s two
most critical military, technological and economic superpowers to talk. Mr. Xi
also sounded accommodating when he arrived, telling Mr. Biden, “Planet Earth is
big enough” for both superpowers. He told Mr. Biden that their countries were
very different but should be “fully capable of rising above differences.”
Those
are the standard niceties of diplomatic encounters between the two countries,
especially in recent months, as Chinese leaders have begun to worry about the
flight of American investors from the country.
But
at the end of a news conference Wednesday evening, after Mr. Xi had departed,
Mr. Biden was asked whether he still regarded Mr. Xi as a dictator. Mr. Biden
had used the word, to China’s fury, earlier in the year.
“Well,
look, he is,” Mr. Biden said. “I mean, he’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a
guy who runs a country that is a Communist country.”
Mr.
Biden’s aides had gone to some lengths in recent days to diminish expectations
for the encounter, even while arguing that China’s economic downturn has, for
the first time, put a Chinese leader on his back foot while dealing with the
United States. But by the American and Chinese accounts, the leaders largely
repeated old talking points about Taiwan, even as Mr. Xi voiced worries that
the coming election on the island could lead to talk of independence — one of
the “red lines” that Chinese officials have said could force them to take
military action.
The
leaders agreed to resume military-to-military communications, which China had
cut off after Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year, when she was speaker of
the House. Such commitments to communicate — for transparency, and to avert
collisions and crises — have been made before, and Mr. Biden made the case that
military channels had to remain open to prevent potential clashes. It is
unclear how Mr. Xi responded.
They
took up the issue of fentanyl, a potent drug that has killed hundreds of
thousands of Americans. Mr. Biden later described the outline of an agreement
that would commit Beijing to regulating components of fentanyl. But China has
made similar commitments before.
The
two men also spoke about the technology race between their countries, which
sits at the core of their increasingly bitter competition. Mr. Xi complained
about escalating American export restrictions on advanced computer chips, which
are fundamental to China’s technological ambitions. Those include the
development of advanced weaponry, surveillance products and artificial
intelligence programs.
Mr.
Xi contended that Mr. Biden’s real goal was to strangle China’s industrial
competitiveness, a senior administration official said. Mr. Biden pushed back,
the official said, saying he would not provide any technology that China could
use for military purposes.
“We’re
in a competitive relationship, China and the United States,” Mr. Biden said at
his news conference. “But my responsibility is to make this rational and
manageable so it doesn’t result in conflict. That’s what I’m all about. That’s
what this is about. To find a place where we can come together and find mutual
interests.”