There's a lot at stake: the topics at the Biden-Xi crisis meeting

There's a lot at stake: the topics at the Biden-Xi crisis meeting

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet in California on Wednesday for their first face-to-face exchange in a year in order to stabilize relations between the two countries. A meeting is planned for the evening German time in the San Francisco area - on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (Apec) summit. Biden and Xi have not seen or spoken to each other since the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022.

Among other things, the US government expects the meeting to result in an agreement to combat drug smuggling into the United States and hopes to revive communication between the armed forces of the two countries. Overall, the USA's aim is to steer the relationship in an orderly direction and prevent the fierce competition from drifting into a real conflict. Biden said in advance that he would consider it a success if both countries could return to a "normal course of communication", where they could simply "pick up the phone and talk to each other".

Biden is planning a press conference afterwards, on Thursday night in Germany - alone, mind you. An overview of the most important topics and points of contention at the meeting:

Economy and trade

Washington and Beijing have been embroiled in a trade conflict for years. Biden allowed punitive tariffs against China to come into force, which his predecessor Donald Trump had introduced. The US has also imposed economic sanctions and export restrictions to make it more difficult for Beijing to access American technologies. Most recently, the US government also introduced restrictions on US investments in China. Biden also initiated large-scale investments at home to make America's supply chains more independent - especially from China. However, the two countries are closely intertwined economically. China is one of the USA's three largest trading partners. A strained relationship between the two largest economies is bad for the global economy. However, a high-ranking government representative dampened expectations of a settlement to the trade conflict in advance and said that a review of the punitive tariffs would probably not be completed until the end of the year.

Fentanyl

The US government accuses China of making a decisive contribution to America's drug epidemic - through the production of fentanyl, which enters the USA in large quantities. The synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin and has led to a devastating drug crisis in the USA. According to the US government, the drug is now the leading cause of death nationwide for people between the ages of 18 and 49. The number of people dying from fentanyl overdoses has exploded in recent years. The US authorities accuse Beijing of claiming that a large proportion of the fentanyl or its components, which are smuggled into the USA via Mexican cartels, originate from China. Beijing has so far defended itself against such accusations, claiming that the country has the strictest drug policy in the world. However, a senior US government official held out the prospect of an agreement that would include steps "on both sides". Should Biden be able to persuade Xi to make concessions on the issue, this would be significant for him in terms of domestic policy, especially with a view to the US election in 2024.

Taiwan

The issue of Taiwan holds great potential for conflict. The island republic, which is only separated from China by a strait, has had a democratic government for decades. However, China considers the country with more than 23 million inhabitants to be part of its territory. The area is repeatedly the scene of military demonstrations of power. There are concerns that China could invade Taiwan like Russia did Ukraine. Biden has assured Taiwan of military support, including from US troops, in such an event. Beijing, on the other hand, resents any "interference" by the USA in its internal affairs.

Ukraine

Beijing's stance on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has been met with criticism because, although China appears neutral to the outside world, it is also Russia's most important partner and thus provides Moscow with backing. At the same time, China's proximity to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin makes it an important country for exerting influence on Russia. Biden could try to persuade Xi to take advantage of this.

Middle East

Israel's war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip is also likely to be discussed. As an important buyer of Iranian oil, China is said to have some influence over Tehran. Iran, in turn, supports Hamas and various other groups in the region, and there is growing concern that the Gaza war could escalate into a major conflict in the Middle East. Since the start of the Gaza war, pro-Iranian groups have stepped up attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq - the Americans have responded with air strikes against Iran-affiliated groups in Syria. The situation is tense. Here too, Biden could call on Xi personally to de-escalate the situation.

Espionage and the balloon affair

At the beginning of the year, a huge Chinese surveillance balloon appeared over US territory. The USA accused Beijing of a large-scale espionage program and shot down the balloon. China rejected the accusations, calling it a weather balloon that had gone off course and complaining of an overreaction. The incident caused relations between the countries to slide to a low point. It took months for the dust to settle to some extent.

Communication between armed forces

The USA hopes to see progress in communication between the armed forces of the two countries. The US government had recently complained on several occasions that direct military communication with China was not working - for example in the case of the balloon - and that this could lead to dangerous misunderstandings. Among other things, Beijing had rejected direct requests for talks at defense minister level. The US government representative said that Biden wanted to press the issue.

Pandas

A less confrontational sign of the state of China's relations with other countries is the question of who Beijing presents with pandas. The animals are seen as symbols of friendship between China and the countries to which they are loaned. There has been "panda diplomacy" for many years. The USA recently suffered a setback here: A few days ago, the zoo in the capital Washington had to say goodbye to its much-loved pandas, which were ordered back to China. Some people hope that the meeting of the presidents could at least bring a concrete result in this area.

During the crisis meeting, international diplomacy will undoubtedly play a significant role in addressing various pressing issues between the United States and China. The US President Biden expressed his hope that the meeting could lead to a return to normal communication between the two nations. Additionally, enhancing diplomatic efforts could potentially help resolve the ongoing fentanyl issue, where the US accuses China of contributing to America's drug epidemic.

Source: www.dpa.com