Nov 15(ABC): Leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies arrive on the Indonesian island Bali on Monday for a post-pandemic reunion chilled by Sino-US rivalry and overshadowed by a superpower sit-down between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
With people worldwide feeling the bite of stratospheric food and fuel prices, Ukraine mired in conflict and the threat of nuclear war casting a menacing pall, G20 presidents and prime ministers will see what, if anything, they can agree to do about it.
It is the biggest gathering by the group of leaders since the pandemic began.
Biden and Xi share a chuckle
The two presidents had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on issues of strategic importance in China-US relations and on major global and regional issues.
President Xi pointed out the current state of China-US relations is not in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, and is not what the international community expects.
China and the United States need to have a sense of responsibility for history, for the world and for the people, explore the right way to get along with each other in the new era, put the relationship on the right course, and bring it back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of the two countries and the world as a whole.
President Xi pointed out that the world is at a major inflection point in history. Countries need to both tackle unprecedented challenges and seize unprecedented opportunities. This is the larger context in which we should view and handle China-US relations.
China-US relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other.
President Biden said that how the U.S-China relationship develops is of crucial importance to the future of the world.
The United States and China have a shared responsibility to show the world that they can manage their differences, and avoid and prevent misunderstandings and misperceptions or fierce competition from veering into confrontation or conflict.
The US government is committed to the one-China policy. It does not seek to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China, and hopes to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
No fond reunion
Over the last three years, the rivalry between China and the United States has intensified sharply as Beijing has become more powerful and more assertive about replacing the US-led order that has prevailed since World War II.
Monday’s face-to-face between Biden and Xi on the margins of the G20 has the air of the icy Cold War conclaves between American and Soviet leaders at Potsdam, Vienna or Yalta that decided the fate of millions.
Biden has spoken about the meeting establishing each country’s “red lines” in the hope that competition does not spill into confrontation and conflict.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden would be “totally straightforward and direct” with Xi and expect the same in return.
Officials say he will also push China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests sent fears soaring that Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.
Xi may be in no mood to help. He enters the meeting buoyed from recently securing a landmark third term in office, cementing him as the most powerful Chinese leader for generations.
Meanwhile, Biden has been boosted by news that his Democratic Party retained control of the US Senate after performing better than expected at the midterm elections, although his domestic politics remains febrile.