Joe Biden met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday for the last time as US president, but the leaders’ goal of reducing tensions ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration has been challenged by fresh conflicts over cybercrime, trade, Taiwan and Russia. .
Biden and Xi will gather on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months – where Pacific Rim leaders are assessing the implications of Trump’s return to power as US president in January . 20. The time of their meeting has not been disclosed.
Washington is angered by recent China-linked hacks of telephone communications of US government and presidential campaign officials, and is concerned about Beijing’s increasing pressure on Taiwan and Chinese support for Russia.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-tey plans to stop in the US state of Hawaii and perhaps Guam on a sensitive visit that is sure to anger Beijing in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on Friday. China considers democratically ruled Taiwan as its territory. Despite the lack of formal diplomatic recognition, the US is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier.
At the same time, Beijing’s economy is being hit hard by Biden’s moves on trade, which include restricting US investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors, and an export ban on high-end computer chips. US officials said all these topics are expected to be discussed in the talks.
China regularly denies US hacking allegations, views Taiwan as an internal matter and has opposed US statements on China-Russia trade. A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment.
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Trump has vowed to adopt a 60% tariff on US imports of Chinese goods as part of an “America First” package of trade measures. Beijing opposes those steps. The Republican president-elect also plans to appoint several hawkish voices on China to senior roles, including US Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
On Wednesday, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the change “a time when competitors and adversaries may see potential opportunity.” Biden will stress with Xi “the need to maintain stability, clarity, predictability through this transition between the United States and China.”
Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, said China wanted the meeting to take place to reduce tensions during the transition period. “China certainly does not want relations with the United States to be in turmoil before Trump formally takes office,” Shen said.
The summit in South America offers new signs of challenges to the power of the United States in its own backyard, where China is positioning itself as a charm offensive.
Xi, who arrived in Lima on Thursday, plans a week-long diplomatic blitz in Latin America that will include a renewed free trade agreement with Peru, the opening of the giant Chancay deepwater port there and a state reception in the Brazilian capital next week. Is. visit.
China is seeking Latin America’s metal ores, soybeans and other commodities, but U.S. officials worry they are also seeking new military and intelligence outposts adjacent to the United States. Chinese state-backed media have dismissed those allegations as a smear.
A US official said Washington’s commitment to the region remains strong and that Chinese infrastructure investment abroad has declined in recent years due to domestic challenges and project problems.
But Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said Xi would be well received in the region.
“Biden’s visit will clearly be influenced by all the things Xi Jinping will do during his visit to APEC,” he said. “When Xi meets with Biden his audience is not — it’s not entirely the White House or the U.S. government. It’s not the American CEOs and the notion of continuing American investment or trying to renew American investment in China.” “It’s about getting rid of the hostile business environment in China that exists there.”
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