Joe Biden hails Xi Jinping as US-China relationship more sinister.
Amid growing frustration on the US side, President Joe Biden spoke with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday that the high-level engagement between the two leaders’ top advisers has largely been fruitless in the early stages of Biden’s presidency.
Biden began the call with Xi, the second between the two leaders since Biden took office. It comes at a time when there is no shortage of thorny issues between the two countries, including cyber security breaches originating from China, Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and what the White House labeled as “coercive and unfair” trade practices by the Chinese. has done.
But Biden aimed with his call focused less on any of those hot-button issues and instead focused on discussing the way forward for US-China relations after a decidedly rocky start to his term.
“The two leaders had a comprehensive, strategic discussion in which they discussed areas where our interests meet, and areas where our interests, values and perspectives differ,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House hopes that despite growing differences, the two sides can work together on issues of mutual concern, including climate change and preventing the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.
However, Beijing has pushed back against US pressure and increasingly suggested it could remain largely uncooperative unless Biden sheds criticism over Chinese internal affairs.
Nearly eight months into his presidency, the efforts of Biden and his allies to call on China on a plethora of concerns while trying to find common ground on other matters have proved a formidable tactic.
Prior to the call, a senior administration official said the White House was dissatisfied with the initial engagement with the Chinese.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said White House officials expected Xi’s direct hearing from Biden could prove beneficial.
The White House official said Biden made it clear to Xi that he had no intention of moving away from his administration’s policy of pressuring China on human rights, trade and other areas where it believes China is in line with international norms. working outside.
The high-level engagement in the early stages has been most notable for each side to blame each other.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry that deteriorating US-China relations could undermine cooperation on climate change. Wang told Kerry, who was visiting Tianjin for climate talks with his Chinese counterparts, by video link that such cooperation cannot be separated from the wider relationship and, according to the State Department, relations with the US Called to take steps to improve
In July, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman faced a long list of demands and complaints, including allegations that the US was trying to stifle and suppress China’s development. Vice Foreign Minister Shi Feng urged the US to “change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy.”
In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had heated exchanges with Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi when they met with top Chinese officials in Anchorage. At that meeting, Yang accused the US of failing to deal with its own human rights problems and took issue with what he said was American hypocrisy.
Since the beginning of his presidency, Biden has sought to focus more on China, asking allies to speak in a more unified voice about Beijing’s human rights record, its trade practices and the increasingly assertive behavior of its military, which has US allies in the Pacific have troubled. He sees Beijing as the United States’ most important economic competitor and a growing national security concern.
But the president has also expressed hope that his long-running working relationship with Xi, who serves as Barack Obama’s vice president, could pay dividends in the two countries collaborating on some important issues. Huh.
The White House said during the call the leaders agreed to negotiate “openly and directly” on issues where there are differences of opinion between nations and where there is agreement.
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