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Biden Filoli California USA US”/>Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) at a meeting with US President Joe Biden in November 2023 at the Filoli estate in the US state of California (archive photo). © IMAGO/Ding Lin/Xinhua
Dialogue in difficult times: Biden and Xi will speak to each other in person for the third time on Saturday. There is a lot on the agenda at the APEC summit in Peru.
Lima – A private conversation between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is planned for Saturday (November 16). The meeting between the two heads of state takes place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru. There is a lot at stake for the world.
Biden and Xi meeting: “Delicate transition phase” ahead
Xi and Biden last met at an APEC summit in California last November. At that time, the two heads of state decided to reactivate military communication channels between their countries’ armed forces. This should reduce the risk of misunderstandings – an attempt at de-escalation given the tense relationship between the two countries.
The renewed meeting on Saturday is “an important opportunity to mark the progress in our relations and to steer them in this delicate transition period in which we want to maintain a certain level of stability. “Even though we continue to compete with the People’s Republic of China,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in advance of the conversation. US President-elect Donald Trump announced during the US election campaign that he wanted to impose 60 percent tariffs on products from China.
US trade tariffs: China warns of new era of “protectionism”
Already in his first term, Trump initiated a trade war and implemented tariff increases. Biden had largely maintained the tariffs and in some cases expanded them – for example on electric cars, batteries, chips and a number of raw materials. At that time, China reacted as a countermeasure, for example with export bans on important raw materials. These include, for example, gallium and germanium, which are important for the production of semiconductors and electric vehicles.
At the start of this year’s summit in Peru, Xi Jinping warned of a new era of “protectionism”. The world has “entered a new period of turbulence and change,” Xi said, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. He was concerned about “spreading unilateralism and protectionism” and warned that “the fragmentation of the global economy is increasing.”
US-China trade war fears: “Stability, clarity and predictability”
By 2049 – the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China – Xi Jinping wants to “build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally progressive and harmonious,” as stated in the Chinese government’s modernization goals. Not explicitly stated, but often interpreted as such, China wants to become a world power again – and overtake the USA as the world’s dominant economic and military power. For years, Beijing has also been investing money in infrastructure projects in South America, Asia, Africa and Europe through its “New Silk Road” investment initiative in order to gain influence in the regions.
The future US President Donald Trump sees China’s growing global political weight as a danger. The composition of his cabinet suggests that a confrontation course with China is emerging in his second term in office – and with it possibly a trade war between the world’s largest and second largest economies. Biden and Xi cannot put a stop to such possible developments during their conversation on Saturday. The US President is also weakened domestically after his election and his party’s poor performance in the US election.
