The Chinese President needed the conference to settle the internal situation and gain access to US corporations.
On the 15th of November, Vice President Joe Biden of the United States of America and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, met on the sidelines of the APEC summit. (Source: The Straits Times)
APEC in San Francisco
In his first US visit since 2017, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met US President Joe Biden in San Francisco on November 15. Longer than planned, APEC met for four hours. A trade disagreement and a Chinese surveillance balloon crossing US airspace have soured relations, but they look to be improving. After the meeting, Xi said the two countries’ doors cannot “be closed again”. Small but significant actions have been taken to reduce Cold War risk. The “Five No’s” from the 2021 Alaska meeting between China’s director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlight Mr. Xi’s goal of avoiding another Cold War. Mr. Biden stated after the San Francisco meeting that while the China-US relationship is competitive, he must make it “rational and manageable”. The conference was crucial to Mr. Xi’s efforts to stabilize China and win access to US corporations. Several US business leaders met with the Chinese President in San Francisco, indicating this was paying dividends. The Chinese economy is struggling with rising youth unemployment and a drop in exports.
Chinese leader Xi wants to level the playing field for Chinese enterprises in the US and persuade foreign investors that China is still open for business. Beijing has worked to win over US business executives, who are less hardline on China than politicians and the main benefactors of US-China trade, before the summit. In 2023, Bill Gates and Tim Cook visited China and were greeted better than many heads of state. China intends to encourage Washington to modify its approach against Beijing by pointing out that US businesses are hurting from trade tensions. Winning over business leaders like Mr. Cook and Mr. Gates is as vital as persuading political leaders like Mr. Biden. This meeting and the Nov. 4 visit of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Beijing highlight Beijing’s efforts to enhance relations with numerous Western nations. This is a change from its “wolf warrior” diplomacy. The summit’s outcome may indicate that China doesn’t desire more conflict with the West. Mr. Biden’s statement that Washington does not support full Taiwanese independence but is concerned about Chinese military intervention on the self-governing island gives Mr. Xi more room to focus on other issues, possibly deescalating tensions over Taiwan’s long-term future.
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US-China Tension Break
Beijing and Washington may benefit from a break in US-China tensions as they deal with domestic politics and global strife. Economic tensions between the US and China, which escalated under Donald Trump, may have been Mr. Xi’s biggest meeting challenge. These tensions have been underlined by US and allied discussions about “de-risking” ties with China. Business with Chinese companies would be cut. Chinese officials see this as a US attempt to limit economic growth. US authorities including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer have ridiculed “decoupling” by decreasing trade with China. China is confident in its US negotiations for various reasons. One example is the US-led trade war’s failure to stifle China’s technical growth since chip bans pushed Chinese enterprises to move to Huawei processors. US companies like Nvidia have lost the Chinese market while seemingly having no impact on Chinese innovation. This reduces US economic influence over China. The Ukraine and Gaza crises weaken US strategic capabilities. China views the overextended US as less ready to create a third front in Asia.
These conflicts boost China’s influence in Russia and the developing countries. As a result, China’s diplomatic power may be greater than predicted. Several token agreements, such as the US and Chinese militaries resuming high-level communication, have deescalated tensions. APEC is a good step toward lowering Sino-US tensions, but Mr. Xi may not have achieved what Beijing desired. Mr. Biden will be scrutinized by the opposition for not handing China too much. He would certainly face Donald Trump in 2024, who was known for his harsh China attitude. Thus, any surrender to Beijing may hurt Mr. Biden’s reelection bid. Instead of ending China-US animosity, the summit can stop it. Beijing and Washington may need breathing room to restructure China’s economy and the US’s geopolitical quagmires. University of East London International Relations Lecturer Tom Harper. This story appeared on The Conversation.
