On Monday (14 Nov), United States President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a historic meeting in Bali.
While both countries haven’t had the best relationship in recent years, the two leaders managed to agree on a few points — one was to maintain regular contact.
Since this was the first in-person meeting between the two men as presidents of their respective countries, that’s a good start.
The leaders of two of the most powerful countries in the world were both attending a G20 summit held on the Indonesian resort island.
According to a White House transcript of their remarks before the meeting, the last time they met in person was in 2017, when Mr Biden was not yet US President.
Since his election in 2020, Mr Biden and Mr Xi had conversed via phone, letters and video conferences, said Mr Xi.
However, both men agreed that nothing could compare to face-to-face interactions.
Source: Joe Biden on Twitter
A White House statement gave a rundown on what Mr Biden told Mr Xi, while China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a release on what their President said.
Read on for some of the important points.
Happily, both leaders agreed on some things, chiefly that they should maintain communication and consult each other on several key issues.
For example, economic policies and trade, as well as climate change, including the success of the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27).
Since people-to-people exchange is very important, they also agreed to encourage the deepening of such interactions between their people.
This can be achieved by empowering their key senior officials to do so, the White House statement read.
To that end, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit China soon, as a follow-up on this.
Both sides referenced US-China relations, which have been fraught, to say the least.
Mr Biden said China and the US have a responsibility to show that they can manage differences and cooperate on global issues, as this is critical for them and the international community.
He also told his counterpart that the US will “continue to compete vigorously” with China, including aligning with worldwide allies and partners.
However, he added,
This competition should not veer into conflict.
Mr Xi also struck a conciliatory tone, saying the “current state of relations” between their countries is not in their interests and not what the international community expects, wrote the Chinese Ministry statement.
Bilateral relations shouldn’t be a “zero-sum game” where one side thrives at the expense of the other and interactions are defined by confrontation, he noted, adding,
The world is big enough for the two countries to develop themselves and prosper together.
He hopes that both countries will respect each other to coexist in peace and pursue “win-win cooperation”, working together to make sure relations move forward on the right course.
Mr Biden and Mr Xi also discussed a number of pressing global issues.
On Taiwan, the US President affirmed that the “One China” policy had not changed, and the US is committed to it.
That policy is basically in line with China’s position that there’s only one Chinese government with whom the US has diplomatic ties.
This is despite US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan in August and interacting with their government officials, raising tensions significantly.
Nevertheless, Mr Biden said the US opposed any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.
Washington also doesn’t seek to use Taiwan as a tool to contain China, and hopes to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese statement said.
However, he raised objections to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” towards Taiwan.
Perhaps referring implicitly to Mrs Pelosi’s visit, Mr Xi said he hopes that the US will “match its words with action”.
He stressed that Taiwan is the “first red line that must not be crossed” in China-US relations, as it’s China’s internal affair.
The Chinese people won’t let anyone violate the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation by seeking to split Taiwan from China, he added.
Mr Biden then brought up the Ukraine war and Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons.
He also raised concerns over North Korea’s behaviour, including their launching of missiles.
Here’s where both leaders agreed again: They said that a nuclear war “should never be fought and can never be won”.
They also underscored their opposition to the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to the White House statement.
Mr Xi separately noted that China is “highly concerned” about the current Ukraine situation.
The Asian country will continue to encourage peace talks, he added, and supports Russia and Ukraine resuming peace talks.
They also hope that the US, NATO and the European Union (EU) will hold “comprehensive dialogues” with Russia.
He advised that the Ukraine crisis is a complex issue that has “no simple solution”, and confrontation between major countries must be avoided.
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Featured image adapted from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.
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