The president of the United States, Joe Bidenhe told his Chinese counterpart this Saturday, Xi Jinpingthat the rivalry between the two countries It should not lead to a “conflict”two months before handing over power to Donald Trump.
“Our countries cannot allow any of this competition to lead to conflict”said the North American president at the beginning of his last face-to-face meeting with Xi in Lima, where they participated in the Asia-Pacific alliance summit.
Likewise, the president of the Asian giant maintained that his country was “ready to work with a new administration,” while the president-elect, Donald Trump, prepares to take office.
The two leaders met on Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Biden was expected to urge Xi to discourage North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Xi appeared to signal concern that the incoming president’s protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail could send the U.S.-China relationship into another valley.
“China is willing to work with the new US Administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differencesin order to achieve a stable transition of the relationship between China and the United States for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through an interpreter.
Biden, for his part, spoke in broader strokes about the direction the relationship has taken and reflected not only on the last four years, but on their long relationship.
“In the last four years, China-US relations have experienced ups and downs“But with the two of us at the helm, we have also engaged in fruitful dialogue and cooperation, and overall achieved stability,” he said.
Biden and Xi, surrounded by their main collaborators, gathered around a long rectangle of tables in a large conference room at the Defines Hotel and Conference Center in Lima.
There is much uncertainty about what lies ahead in the US-China relationship under the incoming Trump administration, which campaigned on promising to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports. Many American companies, such as Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have already diversified their sourcing outside of China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to reduce its imports from China by up to 45% next year.
The White House national security advisor, Jake Sullivansaid Biden administration officials will advise Trump’s team that managing the intense competition with Beijing will likely be the most important foreign policy challenge they will face.
It’s a big moment for Biden, ending more than 50 years in politics. He considered his relationship with Xi to be one of the most important on the international scene and devoted much effort to cultivating it.
Biden and Xi first met on trips to the United States and China when they were both vice presidentsinteractions that both said left a lasting impression.
“For more than a decade, you and I have spent many hours together, both here and in China and in between. And I think we’ve spent a lot of time dealing with these issues,” Biden said Saturday.
But the last four years have presented a steady stream of difficult times.
The FBI this week offered new details of a federal investigation into the Chinese regime’s efforts to hack American telecommunications networks. Initial findings have revealed a “broad and significant” cyber espionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans working in government and politics.
U.S. intelligence services have also determined that China has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies that Moscow uses to make missiles, tanks, planes and other weaponry for its war against Ukraine.
And tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the downing of a Chinese spy balloon that passed through the United States.
(With information from AP)
