President Joe Biden hopes to set clear rules of engagement between the world’s two most powerful countries when he participates in a virtual meeting with a newly empowered Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The U.S. aim of Monday’s meeting, the pair’s first face-to-face encounter since Biden became president, is not geared toward addressing contentious topics such as the supply chain crisis or the fate of former President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, but rather to “avoid miscalculation or misunderstanding” while “bounding the competition with common-sense guardrails,” according to a senior administration official.
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“Setting the terms of the competition will be an ongoing effort, and this meeting between the two leaders is one step in that,” the official told reporters Sunday. “We also believe that leader-level engagement, particularly given the centralization of power in Xi Jinping’s hands, is essential to facilitating effective communication between our two governments.”
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The Chinese Community Party approved a landmark resolution last week that aims to elevate Xi to the same status as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. In another show of force, this one on the world stage, China collaborated with India last weekend in Scotland, successfully watering down the United Nations climate summit’s coal agreement to “phase down” as opposed to “phase out.” Xi declined to participate in the summit in person due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Biden is contending with sagging poll numbers at home and rising inflation, but the Democrat got a big boost when Democrats in control of the legislature passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal.
The meeting with Xi, which Biden requested, is scheduled to start Monday evening Washington, D.C., time, following a ceremony in which Biden will sign the bipartisan legislation.
Biden has been working over the past 10 months to ensure the U.S. “can outcompete China in the long term,” including passing the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, said the senior administration official, who also cited U.S. alliances after Biden’s two trips abroad.
Biden will address such matters as China’s threats to a rules-based international order, unfair economic behavior, human rights “practices,” and its provocations against Taiwan, according to the senior administration official. The leaders will also discuss strategic risks, such as cybersecurity, and areas of potential alignment, from health security to climate change.
“China taking bold action on an existential crisis like climate change is in its interest, and that is what responsible nations do,” the official said. “This is not a favor to us.”
The pair is not expected to talk at length about supply chain kinks or rolling back Trump’s trade tariffs, despite suggestions that reversing the levies may ease inflationary pressures. But the senior administration official did not rule out Chinese counterparts raising either issue.
“The Biden administration is not trying to change China through bilateral engagement,” the official said. “Rather, we’re trying to shift the international environment in a way that is favorable to us, and our allies, and partners.”
In addition, the senior administration official did not confirm whether Biden would attend the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games as some, including U.S. senators, clamor for a boycott.
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Biden has spoken with Xi twice on the phone since the inauguration in January. Both conversations lasted roughly 90 minutes. The senior administration official emphasized how the meeting is different based on its face-to-face nature and prior preparation.
The senior administration official said the Monday meeting is expected to “run several hours” and noted Biden and Xi will communicate through interpreters.
