WOODSIDE, California — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping came face to face for what is expected to be an intense, hourslong meeting, their first since a Chinese spy balloon traversed the United States.
Against the backdrop of two wars and respective domestic political and economic problems, this is only Biden and Xi’s second in-person meeting but their seventh engagement. They last sat down together last year on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia.
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With distance from the demonstrators whose protests have disrupted traffic in downtown San Francisco around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the leaders are anticipated to participate in a casual meet-and-greet before sitting down for a bilateral meeting at the Filoli estate in San Mateo County. Biden then will hold a solo press conference on the grounds.
“We haven’t always agreed, which is not a surprise to anyone,” Biden told Xi before their bilateral meeting. “But our meetings have always been candid, straightforward, and useful. I’ve never doubted what you’ve told me in terms of your candid nature in which you speak.”
“I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication,” he continued. “We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”
Xi referenced U.S. efforts to ensure post-pandemic supply chains are more resilient, describing how “protectionism is rising.” Through translators, he added that the U.S.-China relationship has “never been smooth sailing,” but that “turning their back on each other is not an option.”
“It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other,” Xi said. “I’m still of the view that major country competition is not the prevailing trend of current times and cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States. The world at large, planet Earth, is big enough for the two countries to succeed, and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.”
Biden and the White House have previewed announcements concerning the resumption of military-to-military communication, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, nuclear arms control, trade, and climate. National security adviser Jake Sullivan and White House national security spokesman John Kirby also underscored that aside from Taiwan and the South China Sea, Biden and Xi will discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war on Hamas as China grows closer to Russia and Iran.
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“We can fully expect that the president will make it clear on Taiwan that they’re essential to our ‘One China’ policy, that we do not support Taiwan independence, that we do not want to see the tensions across the Taiwan Strait evolve into any kind of conflict, certainly not military, that we don’t want to see the status quo changed in a unilateral way and certainly not by force,” Kirby said Wednesday.
