loved the movie :0)
in the meantime, two reads re the same meeting in Bali
READ #1
bloomberg.com
Biden and Xi Finally Met at the G-20 Summit in Bali. Here Are the Key Takeaways
Leaders say they will re-open climate communications US and China both signal high-level meeting was worthwhile
Jenny Leonard15 November 2022 at 04:18 GMT+8
US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping sought to ease long-simmering tensions during a three-hour meeting in Bali, Indonesia as the two countries find themselves drifting perilously close to direct economic and military confrontation.
The session, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, led to agreements between the two world powers to revive normal channels of communication and to warn Russia against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Differences remain, however, on other key issues such as Taiwan, human rights, and trade policy.
Here are five takeaways:
Read more: Biden, Xi Take Biggest Step in Years to Prevent US-China Clash
Taiwan Tensions Central to Divide
The flag lowering ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan.
Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg
The situation regarding Taiwan was arguably China’s top priority heading into Monday’s meeting, with Biden telling reporters afterward he doesn’t see “any imminent attempt” by China to attack Taiwan.
Xi stressed that “the Taiwan question” is central to China’s interests and “the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s account of the session.
Biden has said the US would defend Taiwan militarily from a Chinese attack -- remarks that prompted Beijing to increase pressure on the self-governing island following an August visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Xi’s consolidation of power at last month’s National Party Congress came with a pledge to reunify Taiwan with the mainland, if necessary, by force. Taken together, the rhetoric from each side sparked fears of a miscalculation that could draw the world’s two largest economies into an armed conflict.
After their Bali meeting, Biden again condemned Beijing’s actions toward the island as undermining stability.
Read more: Biden Says He Doesn’t See ‘Imminent’ Threat of Taiwan Attack
He also said he made clear to Xi that the US’s “One China” policy has not changed and that he opposed any unilateral modifications to the status quo from either side.
Still, with Republicans likely to gain control of the House, the White House may need to deal with a GOP majority that looks for more confrontation with Beijing. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is planning to run for Speaker, said he intends to visit Taipei next year.
No New Cold War
Nancy Pelosi with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, Taiwan.
Photographer: Chien Chih-Hung/Office of The President/Getty Images
Following Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, China cut off regular contacts with the US on a range of core issues including military affairs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That raised the prospect of a more confrontational US-China relationship, sparking unease in markets and countries across the region.
Biden on Monday tried to reassure not only Xi of his intention to responsibly manage the relationship but also US allies in the Indo-Pacific. He announced the two countries would resume coordination across a range of issues, and that he was dispatching Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China to meet with senior officials. The visit is tentatively planned for early next year, according to a senior State Department official.
“I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War,” Biden said at a press conference following his sitdown with Xi.
Biden scored a victory when Xi jointly voiced opposition with him to Moscow’s potential use of nuclear weapons amid fears Russia could deploy a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, and blame the attack on Kyiv. That bolstered a warning CIA Director William Burns was set to deliver to his Russian counterpart on Monday during a meeting in Turkey.
Leaders Display Warm Tone
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
For the two leaders, the Bali meeting marked a shift to a warmer tone from the often frosty statements volleyed across the Pacific from their governments in Washington and Beijing.
After customary handshakes and back-pats, the two regaled each other by reminiscing about their long, shared history, forged when each was serving as his nation’s vice president.
Read more: Biden, Xi Chart Path to Warmer Ties With Blinken China Visit
And following the meeting, both sides seemed intent on signaling that it had proved a worthwhile exchange.
“We were candid and clear with one another across the board,” Biden said, adding that the Chinese leader was “direct and straightforward” in their talks. The US president said he thought Xi was willing to compromise on issues.
The Chinese side called the talks “candid, in-depth, and constructive.”
Reining in North Korea
Television screens show a news report about the latest North Korean missile launch on November 3.
Photographer: Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images
Biden told Xi the Chinese president had an “obligation” to discourage North Korea from conducting long-range nuclear tests, and that if they continued, the US might have to step up its military presence in the region.
“We would have to take certain actions that would be more defensive on our behalf,” Biden told reporters. “It would not be directed against China.”
The US in the past has looked to China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, to rein in Pyongyang, but that channel had been more difficult to use as the relationship between Washington and Beijing deteriorated this year.
Biden consulted with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over the weekend about the increased pace of North Korea’s missile tests in the region.
Climate Talks Restarting
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet during the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Both the US and China stressed the need to work together to tackle the climate crisis following the meeting, suggesting they would resume climate talks that Beijing suspended in response to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit.
The White House said in a summary of the meeting that the leaders agreed to task senior officials with maintaining communication on climate change and other shared challenges.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was in both nations’ interest to tackle climate change in a cooperative manner.
A resumption of working-level talks on climate change could help one of the few spots where the US and China have worked collaboratively in recent years. Former President Barack Obama and Xi agreed to commit to the Paris climate accord that has become the framework for the world’s effort to combat climate change, and last week China’s climate envoy told the COP27 conference in Egypt that the nation remained committed to the vision of carbon neutrality.
Earlier: What Biden and Xi’s Past Calls Say About This Latest Tricky One
READ #2
rt.com
China says it wants to help build a 'multipolar world'
Beijing will cooperate with Moscow to build a multipolar world, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
“China is ready to work with Russia and other like-minded countries to promote the development of a multipolar world, firmly support the democratization of international relations, and defend the international system based on the United Nations,” he said, according to remarks posted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wang’s phrasing echoes statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, when they met in Beijing in early February. Putin had also said that he and Xi “hold largely the same views on addressing the world’s problems.”
In a cordial meeting with his Russian colleague on Tuesday, Wang also said Beijing would “continue to take an objective and fair stand” on the conflict in Ukraine and “play a constructive role in facilitating peace talks.”
Biden’s assurances to China change nothing
China also praised Russia’s “rational and responsible position” on the use of nuclear weapons.
Moscow has repeatedly and explicitlyreaffirmed its commitment to the joint statement against nuclear war by the five major atomic powers, adopted in January, that nuclear war is unacceptable and should never be fought. That hasn’t stopped Western governments from accusing Russia of making nuclear threats, as US President Joe Biden did in his meeting with Xi on Monday.
While Xi’s remarks before and after the meeting with Biden expressed a desire to improve relations with the US, the Chinese president also clearly set out Beijing’s “red lines.” He warned the US against supporting separatists on the island of Taiwan and asked Washington to live up to its written commitments.
“A statesman should think about and know where to lead his country. He should also think about and know how to get along with other countries and the wider world,” Xi told Biden. |
