Expectations for major changes in the shaky relationship between the US and China were low ahead of Monday night’s meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And the summaries of the meetings released by the two sides afterwards revealed lingering divisions over key issues such as Taiwan, human rights, technology and trade.
But the roughly three-hour face-to-face between the leaders seemed to provide an important opportunity that both sides seemed to be longing for: to strengthen their communication.
Dialogue between Beijing and Washington reached a new low in August, when Beijing canceled dialogue in a number of areas in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Both parties have expressed fear of the possible consequences of a misunderstanding.
In their respective statements following Monday’s meeting on the sidelines of the G20, both Washington and Beijing indicated they would move forward by working together on a range of issues, including climate change, health and food security — and pledged the lines of communication to keep open.
“The two presidents agreed that their respective diplomatic teams should maintain strategic communications and hold regular consultations; their finance teams will continue dialogue and coordination on macroeconomic policies, economic ties and trade… They agreed to properly make use of the China-US joint working group to promote the solution of more problems,” said a lecture by the Chinese foreign ministry.
The White House said the two leaders agreed to “allow key senior officials to maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts” on issues such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability, including debt relief, health security and global food security. It also said leaders supported efforts to address specific issues in US-China relations through working groups and other mechanisms.
“(Biden) reiterated that (U.S.-China) competition should not turn into conflict and underlined that the United States and China must manage competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication,” the statement said, adding that the leaders their teams have asked to continue this work.
Secretary of State Blinken will visit China to follow up on their talks, the White House said.
In a press conference after the meeting, Biden suggested that the open communication this time started with the leaders themselves: “I want to be clear, and I want to be clear to all leaders, but especially to Xi Jinping that I mean what I say and I say what I mean . So there’s no misunderstanding – that’s the biggest concern.”
“And I have to say (Xi) was as straightforward as he’s been with me in the past. And I think we understand each other, which is the most important thing that can be done.”