Xi, Biden in 'very blunt' Bali meeting
US seeks to manage flash points in Taiwan, North Korea, and Russian war in Ukraine
US President Joe Biden and China President Xi Jinping met for three and half hours in Bali, Indonesia in a tense meeting designed to put a floor under the sinking US-China relationship.
“We had an open and candid conversation about our intentions and our priorities,” Biden said in a press conference afterward. “It was clear. He was clear and I was clear.”
“We were very blunt with each other about places where we disagreed,” Biden said. “We covered a lot of territory.”
The meeting was held in a meeting room at Xi’s hotel with language translators providing interpretation through headsets. The two discussed Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the need to avoid use of nuclear weapons, Biden said. They also discussed North Korea’s tests of ballistic nuclear weapons.
Taiwan is Xi’s ‘red line’
The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, Xi told Biden, the state news agency Xinhua reported after the meeting. Taiwan is the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations, Xi said.
Biden said he told Xi that US policy toward Taiwan has not changed. “I made it clear that we want to see cross-strait issues peacefully resolved,” Biden said. “We oppose unilateral change in the status quo by either side and we’re committed to maintaining the peace and stability in Taiwan Straits.”
China state media reported that Xi also challenged Biden on the US’s new ban on exports of advanced semiconductor chips to China.
North Korea
North Korea’s recent missile launches mean the US will increase its military presence in the region, Biden said, urging Xi use China’s influence with Pyongyang to curtail Kim Jung Un’s nuclear weapons development.
“I made it clear we will do what it takes to defend our capacity, defend ourselves and allies South Korea and Japan,” Biden said.
Improving tone
In a photo opportunity before the meeting the two leaders shook hands cordially and Biden framed the meeting as an opportunity for a “candid and useful” conversation.
“As the leaders of our two nations, we share a responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual cooperation,” Biden said.
Changing direction
Xi emphasized a need to “find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship,” according to Xinhua.
“Currently, the China-US relationship is in such a situation that we all care a lot about it, because this is not the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples and it is not what the international community expects us,” Xi said.
"The world has come to a crossroads. Where to go from here? This is a question that is not just on our mind, but also on the mind of all countries," Xi said.
Assessing cooperation
White House officials had set low expectations for the meeting, hoping simply to re-establish communication between US and Chinese officials that had been cutoff following House Speaker Nancy’s Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Biden said the two sides had agreed to facilitate additional contacts at the ministerial level to address a range of issues. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to Beijing to continue conversations, he said.
US officials are gauging whether Xi will demonstrate cooperation after consolidating his position as China’s head of state.
Competition, not conflict
A White House readout released after the meeting said Biden “explained that the United States will continue to compete vigorously with the PRC, including by investing in sources of strength at home and aligning efforts with allies and partners around the world.”
“He reiterated that this competition should not veer into conflict and underscored that the United States and China must manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” the White House said.
Putin absent
Russia President is not attending the G20 meetings over the next two days. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was representing Russia instead. The Russian foreign ministry denied reports attributed to local Indonesian officials that Lavrov had sought hospital treatment for a heart ailment upon arrival.
Russia-Ukraine war
Prior to the Xi-Biden meeting, Chinese officials had been distancing themselves from Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang spoke about the Ukraine-Russia war during the meeting of US and ASEAN leaders in Cambodia. Li emphasized the “irresponsibility” of nuclear threats, suggesting Beijing is uncomfortable with strategic partner Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, Reuters reported.
Li “put clear emphasis on sovereignty, on the irresponsibility of nuclear threats, the need to ensure that nuclear weapons are not used in the way that some have suggested”, said a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Elsewhere, a Chinese official told the Financial Times that “Putin didn’t tell Xi the truth,” when the two had pledged to deepen their strategic partnership before the invasion. “If he had told us, we wouldn’t have been in such an awkward position,” the official said.
Xi’s meetings
Xi will hold bilateral meetings in coming days with French President Emmanuel Macron, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, as well as G20 host Indonesian President Joko Widodo and APEC host Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced on Friday in Beijing.
Australia PM seeks sit-down
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is asking China to lift billions of dollars in trade barriers as he prepares to meet with Xi and other Asia-pacific leaders.
Beijing has banned minister-to-minister contacts and imposed trade barriers on Australian products including wine, coal, beef, seafood, and barley worth USD $13 billion a year.
US military preparing
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in a US media interview last week the US Navy and Marine Corps were prepared to impose high costs on China if it makes a military move on Taiwan.
“President Xi is a smart man and I hope he doesn’t go down that path,” Del Toro told CNBC in an interview. “What our job is in the Department of the Navy – the Navy and the Marine Corps – is to make it clear that the cost of doing so would be extremely high and detrimental to his own economy, detrimental to the regime.”
Access denial bubbles
The Royal United Services Institute, the UK’s leading national security think tank, issued a report suggesting the use of “access denial bubbles” to confront China’s military aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
Coauthors Sidharth Kaushal, John Louth, and Andrew Young argue the UK and Western allies can provide anti-ship, anti-air weapons to smaller Asian states that can be turned against the PLA, mimicking what China is doing to the US Navy in the region.
Hong Kong protest
Hong Kong sports teams play the Chinese national anthem before events, but when Hong Kong took on South Korea in the final of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, a protest song was played instead, Agency France-Presse reported.
‘Glory to Hong Kong’ was an anthem for the city’s pro-democracy protestors in 2019 who were forcefully suppressed by Beijing authorities.
Chinese MMA fighter wins
Chinese mixed martial arts fighter Zhang Weili recovered her UFC champions belt on Saturday night defeating American Carla Esparza in a strawweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.