Chinese President Xi Jinping reached the United States on Tuesday afternoon (local time) in order to participate in a summit with his US counterpart Jo Biden. In addition, the Chinese president will also attend the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting from November 14 to 17, as per the media reports. Notably, this is the Chinese leader's first trip to the US in six years as the relationship between the two nations is not said to be very cordial.
For their first meeting in a year, the presidents of the two largest economies in the world, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, will meet in California on Wednesday to discuss trade, Taiwan, and the tenuous relationship between the US and China. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement the leaders would discuss the “continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication” and how they “can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”
It is worth mentioning here that the meeting between Biden and Jinping has great significance, as the two leaders have not met since the G20 in 2022, and because of their lack of agreement concerning current global conflicts, particularly the Ukraine war.
Significance of Biden-Jinping meeting
Biden’s relationship with his Chinese counterpart is already strained. At the G20 meeting, Biden spoke with Jinping about China’s position on Taiwan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US-China trade relationship which has been extremely rocky. These issues are all expected to be on the agenda.
The course of the US-China relationship is likely to influence the US presidential election in 2024, although it is unlikely to be the decisive issue. Pew Research estimates that 83% of Americans have a negative opinion of China and are worried about Taiwan's future as well as China's place in the globe. However, sentiments in China toward the US might be moderating. According to a poll conducted in October, fewer Chinese (48%) think of the US as an enemy than in 2022 (74%).
According to reports, Biden's present stance on China, which seeks to limit China's diplomatic influence and slow down its economic expansion while upholding US geopolitical primacy, is unlikely to shift much. However, the think tank Atlantic Council believes that the American people will support Biden if he continues to have dialogue with China.
US-China relations
The relationship between the two nations has been mostly complex, and at times, strenuous since the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949. Since then, the two countries have experienced periods of both tension and cooperation over issues including trade, climate change, and Taiwan. These two vast and complicated countries have found common ground on issues of trade and investment, but key issues remain unresolved, and the potential for troubling divergence is real as China becomes an economic powerhouse, a military force in Asia, and a potential rival to US hegemony.
(With inputs from agencies)
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