Biden to meet Xi on Wednesday in San Francisco Bay area, US says

The White House announced that on Wednesday, President Joe Biden would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in person for the first time in a year. This is a high-stakes diplomatic attempt to defuse tensions between the two giants of the globe.

Teams of officials from Beijing and Washington will be involved in the widely awaited exchange, which is expected to take hours, on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in the San Francisco Bay region.

According to top Biden administration officials, it is anticipated to address a wide range of international concerns, including the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s connections with Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific region, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, human rights, and “fair” trade and economic relations.

“Everything is on the table; nothing will be held back,” said a U.S. official. U.S. wished to remain anonymous, reporters told reporters during a briefing.

“We’re not blind to this. We are aware that several decades’ worth of attempts to mold or reform China have failed. But for the remainder of our lives, we anticipate China to exist and play a significant role globally.” For over a year, U.S. officials have advocated for this conference and believe Beijing is deliberately trying to sabotage U.S. strategy globally.

In a statement released on Friday, the White House confirmed the meeting’s date. On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said Xi would go to the U.S. from November 14–17 to attend the APEC conference and meet with Biden.

Despite their vastly divergent ideological views, Biden and Xi will converse for the first time since November 2022. Following Biden’s decision to fire down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was seen flying over American airspace in February, the president of the United States and his entourage launched a diplomatic blitz to mend strained relations.

More diplomacy is anticipated as a primary outcome, with commitments to discuss important topics like the environment, global health, economic stability, measures to combat drugs, and maybe the reopening of specific military-to-military channels following a high-level freeze.

Two additional people informed of the meetings said that both parties may provide little tokens of goodwill to facilitate negotiations. Profound advancement, however, will not be easy. According to U.S. and Chinese leaders, both nations increasingly see themselves as engaged in a direct struggle to gain a military advantage, dominate the economy of the twenty-first century, and win over other countries.

With a long history of left-wing protest and agitation, the restive metropolis of Northern California may upend the meticulous planning that went into organizing Xi’s visit.

In the course of six encounters since Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the two leaders, who have known each other for almost ten years, have talked for hours. However, experts claim that both men enter the meeting with mistrust, grudges, and distorted perceptions of each other’s goals. Biden is likely to bring up delicate subjects such as Chinese “influence operations” in overseas elections and the situation of American nationals who Washington claims are unjustly incarcerated in China.

After the COVID-19 epidemic, Biden’s 80-year-old economy has functioned better than other wealthy countries. He is running for a second term in power despite being unpopular with citizens at home and raising doubts about the viability of American democracy.

Though some disagree on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Biden has rallied the country’s longstanding friends from Europe to Asia to oppose Russia in Ukraine. To avert a confrontation with China, Washington is quietly calling upon its extensive network of allies, ranging from NATO to the defense accords in the Pacific.

Ten years Biden’s junior, Xi has tightened control over state leaders, the media, the military, and policy. He has also changed the constitution to become the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. The nation has recently deviated from its three-decade, rocket-propelled growth track due to escalating economic constraints.

In the upcoming weeks, Washington diplomats anticipate that Beijing will put the United States to the test as it pursues its own goals in the Indo-Pacific, presumably capitalizing on the perceived shift in American attention from Ukraine and Israel.

Biden is anticipated to inform Xi that American obligations in the Indo-Pacific region remain unaltered. China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and East China Sea—areas of international dispute—have alarmed its neighbors in recent years. According to one of the U.S. sources, Biden would also make a clear commitment to the security of the Philippines.

According to the person, Biden is also anticipated to pressure Xi to persuade Iran that attempting to escalate the Middle East conflict would be foolish.