Xi Jinping’s meeting with Joe Biden in Woodside, south of San Francisco, was never going to produce a breakthrough or a reset in the relationship between China and the United States.
But it has restored channels of communication between Beijing and Washington that China severed after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August last year.
The two leaders agreed to resume formal contacts between the Pentagon and the People’s Liberation Army, including talks between theatre commanders aimed at avoiding accidents and misunderstandings, particularly in the South China Sea. They also promised to talk to one another more often and to answer the phone if the other calls, something Xi refused to do for a while earlier this year.
“He and I agreed that each is willing to pick up the phone and call directly and be heard immediately,” Biden said after the meeting.
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“Any concern about anything between our nations or happening in our region, we should pick up the phone and call one another and we’ll take the call. That’s important progress.”
Xi agreed to work with the US to curb the export of chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl, which has become a major problem in American cities. Cooperation on combating drug trafficking languished after Donald Trump imposed sanctions on a Chinese police institute.
Biden reaffirmed his commitment to the One China policy and Washington’s opposition to “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side” where Taiwan was concerned. Xi restated China’s position that Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland is unstoppable, urging Biden to stop arming the self-governing island.
Xi is reported to have complained about American officials speculating about China’s timetable for invading Taiwan within the next few years, making clear that there are no such plans. The Chinese leader also denounced US export controls and other economic sanctions as part of an effort to suppress China’s development.
The summit followed months of engagement between senior Chinese and US officials after an attempted rapprochement last year was blown off course when the US shot down a Chinese balloon that had flow across its airspace. It reflects the fact that, for different reasons, both sides have an interest in dialling down the tensions that have been rising in recent years.
China’s economic recovering after the pandemic has been disappointing and geopolitical tensions are getting in the way of Beijing’s efforts to restore confidence. For Biden, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East leave less diplomatic or military bandwidth for great power confrontation with China.
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