This harmony is just a snapshot, nothing more
The heads of state of the rival superpowers meet in person again for the first time in around a year. Xi is striving for harmony. However, there is a lack of real concessions to win the trust of the USA.
The Chinese head of state used Xi Jinping's return to San Francisco to launch a charm offensive towards his hosts. He first set foot on US soil in San Francisco in 1985. To this day, Xi said at the welcome dinner on Wednesday evening, he keeps a photo of himself in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was a successful rhetorical introduction to his speech, in which Xi emphasized the importance of relations between the two countries, their opportunities and formulated his conditions for shaping the future of the world in a supposedly more peaceful way and with growing prosperity for all. Hours earlier, Xi had met US President Joe Biden in person for the first time in around a year - on the sidelines of this week's APEC summit.
Talks, food, a walk
Xi was keen to convey that it must have been a harmonious meeting. He and Biden spent four hours together. First among advisors on trade, the economy, national security and regional diplomacy. Later over lunch with members of government from both sides and finally on a walk together around the Filoli estate, just south of San Francisco.
Undoubtedly, all this took place in a harmonious atmosphere. But harmony is at best a snapshot in relations between Washington and Beijing. This has been proven time and again in recent years. The security policy and economic interests of the two largest economies clash too much. China emphasizes that there is room for two superpowers in the world. But fewer and fewer players in the USA are willing to buy this.
China's ambitions to break the dominance of the USA have not only intensified in recent years, but have also become more institutionalized. Americans and Europeans alike are warily observing China's attempts to build a global, economically powerful bloc by strengthening the BRICS forum, in which Beijing calls the shots, develops its national currency as an alternative to the US dollar and reinterprets democratic values such as human and civil rights in its own interests.
Taiwan remains the sticking point
But nowhere has the conflict between the two states come to a head more recently than in the Taiwan Strait. The island state is the democratic rebuttal to the claim that the Chinese must be governed authoritatively in order to prevent chaos. But it is also an offshore base for the US presence in the Indo-Pacific, just a few hundred kilometers from the Chinese coast, and as such a thorn in Beijing's side.
Despite all the chants of harmony, Xi made clear to Biden his firm determination to incorporate Taiwan - without specifying a timetable. According to an official Chinese statement, Xi called on the US government to refrain from arming Taiwan and not to support possible independence efforts. Xi has never given such clear instructions on any other issue.
Taiwan hangs over relations between the two countries like a sword of Damocles. Biden and Xi did agree to greater exchange in the area of tourism and to make it easier to issue visas in order to facilitate contacts between the societies of the two countries. Both politicians even agreed to resume communication between their militaries. However, this agreement does not resolve the core conflict over Taiwan.
Operational contacts are good news
Talks are to be initiated not only between ministries, but also at lower levels. There was talk of operational contacts between skippers and other officers. What this means in detail remains vague. However, this agreement is probably intended to prevent unexpected military clashes in the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea. Recently, such incidents have increasingly fueled concerns of escalation. Joe Biden expressed his relief that this declaration of intent had been made.
For the rest of the world, however, this is the best news to come out of the meeting. On the other hand, the fact that China should assert its influence in other trouble spots was probably not officially discussed prominently between Biden and Xi. Certainly also because the positions are too muddled to be discussed in a meeting staged as harmonious. After all, the People's Republic will continue to be one of Putin's good friends and one of Iran's good customers when it comes to buying oil. Beijing will therefore not be considered a peacemaker in either Ukraine or Gaza.
Fentanyl exports to be curbed
Xi wanted to demonstrate his goodwill with concessions on another level. He promised to better control exports of chemicals for the production of the synthetic opiate fentanyl. The drug has spread rapidly in the USA and has already caused tens of thousands of deaths. Some people think it is China's revenge for the opium that was brought into the country by the British in the 19th century and numbed the Chinese for years like firewater once did the natives of North America.
However, Xi is probably also keen to persuade the Americans to invest more in the People's Republic, improve market access for Chinese companies in the USA and be less skeptical about Chinese goods from Xinjiang. His country has been in economic difficulties since it paralyzed its own production and value creation for years with its coronavirus policy.
The Wall Street Journal no longer believes that Xi Jinping is genuinely interested in improving relations with the US. "Chinese leaders smile and toast the friendship between our two peoples while undermining US interests wherever they can," writes the paper.
During the APEC summit, President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, the Chinese head of state, met for the first time in a year. Despite spending hours together discussing trade, economy, national security, and regional diplomacy, as well as sharing a meal and taking a walk, the tensions between the USA and China persist, particularly over Taiwan. Xi Jinping reiterated China's ambition to incorporate Taiwan, while Biden and Xi agreed on increasing tourism exchanges and resuming military communication, albeit failing to address the core conflict.
Source: www.ntv.de
