The last substantive opportunity for President Joe Biden to make America’s foreign policy case to China’s President Xi Jinping came and went. The only news from the meeting was Xi admonishing Biden to “make the wise choice.” For whom, is the question? Like so many of the Biden administration’s diplomatic engagements with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), no new ground was plowed, no breakthrough agreements were reached, and no clear path for a less contentious relationship emerged.
Biden and Xi Chat Harmlessly
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan suited up for the Biden administration’s first bilateral encounter with their People’s Republic of China (PRC) counterparts shortly after taking office in 2021. It would be emblematic of the relationship between the two nations for the next three and a half years. China used the event for theater, entertaining its non-aligned-nations audience and tutoring the US delegation in diplomacy Beijing style.
On Saturday (Nov. 16), while attending the yearly Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation get-together, Biden and Xi had a sidebar sit-down during which the CCP leader suggested that Biden convey to President-elect Donald Trump that the PRC was ready to pursue cordial relations. However, China should not be impeded in its growth around the world. “China-US ties are at the forefront of anxiety about how Trump might handle already-poor relations between the two largest economies and the world’s pre-eminent militaries,” according to a Wall Street Journal report.
A CCP press release following the Biden-Xi meeting made China’s foreign policy message very clear: “The Chinese people’s right to development is not to be deprived of or ignored. While all countries need to safeguard their national security, they should not overstretch the national security concept, still less, use it as a pretext for malicious moves to constrain and contain other countries.”
The US delegation should not have to be reminded that the CCP influence in South America has been expanding rapidly. “Xi inaugurated a multibillion-dollar Chinese-built port in Peru that promises to reorder regional trade routes away from the US,” the WSJ explained. What should concern the Biden team in Peru is that, “[w]hile the United States remains the biggest trade partner for the region as a whole, China is now the biggest in South America — with Brazil, Chile, Peru, and others,” The Economist reported. Why do Biden and his national security team seem unaware or disinterested in this geopolitical development?
National Security Advisor Says Quiet Part Out Loud
Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, in a read-out of the meeting, told the press, “President Biden reiterated his grave concern over the fact that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has deployed a significant number of troops to western Russia to participate in the battle against Ukraine, in the war against Ukraine.” According to the CCP’s press release, the only mention of North Korea was, “China does not allow conflict and turmoil to happen on the Korean Peninsula. It will not sit idly by when its strategic security and core interests are under threat.” Typically, the CCP deflected on a significant issue with long-term consequences.
Sullivan explained to reporters Biden’s conversation on what the PRC might do to address the active involvement of its ally, North Korea, in the war in Ukraine:
“You know, one of the points the President really registered was: Countries around the world look to the United States when the US has influence, whether it’s in Asia or Europe. Similarly, countries look to the PRC. So, it’s not a sufficient answer to simply say, ‘Well, that’s up to these other countries. There’s nothing we can really do about it.'”
In a moment of subtle and certainly accidental irony, the last part of the statement would have been more impressive if the first part was undeniably and demonstrably true. However, US influence under the Biden administration has been on the wane. So, countries around the world are not automatically turning to the United States.
The meeting ended with the perfunctory statement about the discussions being candid, with both leaders committed to continuing the conversation. Biden and Xi want a smooth transition with the incoming Trump administration. That will happen, but the Trump national security team’s approach to the PRC will likely be more assertive in its advocacy of US equities and interests, no doubt something Xi will find uncomfortable.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
