From slogging to dialoguing
We have a breakthrough.
On Wednesday, Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in San Francisco.
It went about as well as could be expected.
- The summit took place over four hours and featured a lunch and private walk between the two leaders, suggesting that Xi and Biden had ample time and space to get down to brass tacks.
The meeting produced all three deliverables that we told you about yesterday, namely agreements to:
- Restart military-to-military dialogue
- Cooperate on combatting fentanyl trafficking and establish a counternarcotics working group
- Hold bilateral talks on managing the use of AI (though this fell short of the previously reported ban)
In addition, the two agreed to:
- Increase flights between the US and China
- Expand people-to-people exchanges in education, business, and cultural spheres
It wasn’t all well-wishes and working groups, though:
- Xi reportedly took Biden to task over weapons sales to Taiwan and American economic suppression of China (Gov.cn).
- Meanwhile, Biden griped about China’s human rights record, non-market economic practices, and support for Russia (White House).
Get smart: For the first time in a long time, we’re feeling optimistic.
- By highlighting areas for cooperation and doubling down on communication, Xi and Biden are defining the acceptable limits of US-China competition.
But, but, but: One good meeting does not equal a reset in relations.
- We’ll be tracking how much the dialogue mechanisms accomplish and whether the US dials down its economic pressure tactics, to determine whether relations are really on the up.