President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during their four-hour encounter at the APEC summit in San Francisco, reached significant agreements. The key outcomes included the resumption of military-to-military communications and initiatives to decrease fentanyl production.
This crucial dialogue, marking their first in-person discussion in a year, signals a potential shift towards more stable U.S.-China relations, following a period of heightened tensions that had strained the bilateral relationship.
Biden highlighted the discussions as exceptionally constructive, emphasizing the progress made and the importance of reinstating military communications to prevent potential accidents and misunderstandings. He also noted that these developments were built upon recent high-level diplomatic engagements between both nations.
Xi Jinping, in his address, underscored the notion that major country competition is not a dominant global trend and doesn’t solve the issues facing both China and the U.S. or the world. He stressed that both nations could simultaneously succeed, presenting opportunities for each other.
Post-meeting, Xi outlined a five-pillar strategy for the U.S.-China relationship, encompassing mutual respect, disagreement management, cooperation in areas like climate change and AI, sharing major country responsibilities, and enhancing people-to-people connections. He urged the U.S. to refrain from supporting “Taiwan independence,” halt arms sales to Taiwan, and reconsider its export controls on emerging technologies that affect China’s interests.
The leaders also discussed resuming U.S.-China communications through the Defense Policy Coordination Talks and the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement. Topics like the Gaza conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the issue of China’s exit bans on U.S. citizens were also on the agenda.
This meeting follows intensive diplomacy, including visits by U.S. cabinet officials to Beijing and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to Washington. Bilateral ties had deteriorated after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and further strained following the U.S. downing of a Chinese spy balloon. However, this recent dialogue offers a hopeful direction for mending and strengthening U.S.-China relations.