Chinese language President Xi Jinping referred to as the US-China relationship ‘the most important bilateral relationship in the world.’
US President Joe Biden has met Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an financial summit in California, the place they shook palms and spoke about methods to enhance bruised relations.
The assembly came about on Wednesday throughout a convention for the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperative (APEC), and comes amid a interval of mounting rigidity between Washington and Beijing.
Biden mentioned that the 2 international locations ought to attempt to ensure they don’t “veer into conflict” and handle their relationship “responsibly”.
Xi referred to as the US-China relationship “the most important bilateral relationship in the world”, and mentioned he and Biden “shoulder heavy responsibilities for the two peoples, for the world, and for history”.
“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” he mentioned. “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Officers on each side of the Pacific have set expectations low as Biden and Xi are set to debate Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Israel-Hamas struggle, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea and human rights – areas the place the leaders have been unable to resolve long-standing disagreements.
Cooperation between the US and China, which make up the primary and second-largest economies on the planet, respectively, stays important for progress on world points equivalent to local weather change. However each side have expressed mounting frustration with the opposite, disagreeing over points equivalent to know-how and world politics.
Washington has accused China of providing Russia an financial lifeline as Moscow carries out a bloody invasion of Ukraine, which the US has backed with navy help and humanitarian help.
The 2 sides have additionally differed on points within the Center East, the place China has referred to as for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian armed group HaInternalmas. The US has used its place on the United Nations Safety Council to veto requires a ceasefire and has thrown its help behind Israel.
The 2 have additionally clashed over know-how and commerce, with the US instituting new measures in an effort to hobble China’s microchip business.
Iran, fentanyl
In the course of the assembly, Biden is predicted to press Xi to make use of China’s affect to induce Iran to keep away from provocative motion or encouraging its proxies to enter the fray in strikes that might unfold the Israel-Hamas battle throughout the Center East.
He’s additionally anticipated to lift alleged Chinese language operations to affect international elections, the standing of US residents that Washington believes are wrongly detained in China and human rights.
US officers anticipated concrete steps to revive staff-level conversations between the 2 international locations on points from military-to-military communications to lowering the move of fentanyl, managing the expansion of synthetic intelligence applied sciences, and managing commerce and local weather.
Lots of the chemical compounds used to make the opioid drug fentanyl come from China, US officers say.
Earlier than the assembly, each international locations backed a brand new renewable power goal and mentioned they might work to cut back methane and plastic air pollution, a renewal of local weather cooperation that was suspended after former US Speaker of the Home Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022.