TFind areas of convergence without avoiding angry subjects: Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping tried on Monday to ease tensions between the two rival powers during a three-hour interview.
The leaders shook hands and spoke at length for the first time since President Biden entered the White House.
The meeting was held at a hotel on the eve of the G20 major economies summit being held on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Joe Biden has said that a new Cold War is not necessary, at the end of these talks which aimed to prevent the issues of tension between the biggest economic powers from degenerating into conflict.
Xi Jinping stressed that the two countries “share more common issues than issues that oppose them”, according to a report of the meeting by the foreign minister after three tense years without a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries. .
“The world expects China and the United States to handle their relationship properly,” said the Chinese leader.
Xi Jinping tried to reassure his counterpart by assuring him that China had no intention of taking the place of the United States or “changing the existing international order”.
As a sign of relaxation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit China early next year, the first visit of this level since 2018. And cooperation on climate, interrupted last summer, will resume between the two largest emitters of CO2.
Over the past three years, the rivalry between the two countries has intensified as China has grown in power and assertiveness, challenging US leadership and the geopolitical landscape since the end of World War II.
Fueling tensions, Beijing refuses to condemn the invasion of Ukraine launched in February by Russia but the White House claimed to have obtained Chinese assurances, evoking a consensus on the refusal of the use of nuclear weapons.
Joe Biden also urged Xi to encourage North Korea to be “responsible”.
Bilaterally, the US president voiced his “concerns” about respect for human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong and warned that the US “will continue to compete vigorously” with China but felt that it was necessary “to keep the channels of communication open”.
The two leaders, who have known each other since 2017, have spoken by phone or video five times since Joe Biden entered the White House, but never in person before this meeting in Bali.
It is the Chinese president’s second trip abroad since the start of the pandemic, following a visit to Central Asia in September.
Joe Biden sought in particular to push Beijing to use its influence to moderate North Korea, which has just carried out a record series of missile launches, seeming to be preparing to conduct the 7th nuclear test in its history.
Poutine grand absent
If Ukraine is not officially on the agenda of the G20 summit, the war started by Russia and its consequences on the food and energy markets will be in the background of all the talks.
Xi Jinping will meet his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, a first since 2017, which is seen as a sign of appeasement between Camberra and Beijing.
The Chinese leader also has a scheduled meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, while new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also hopes to see him.
The Russian president, who is represented by his head of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov, appears to be the main absentee from the meeting, which is held while the Russian army is retreating in southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be able to plead his case directly, speaking by videoconference.
At a minimum, Joe Biden and his allies want to get a clear message from the top to Vladimir Putin that a nuclear conflict is unacceptable.
Despite Monday’s declarations, any common text is likely to be blocked by Russian opposition and Beijing’s refusal to deviate from the Russian position or appear to concede ground to Washington.
Noting “a series of tensions and isolation”, Emmanuel Macron nevertheless assured that he intended to “continue” to speak with Vladimir Putin and that he would call him after this G20.
11/14/2022 17:45:16 – Nusa Dua (Indonesian) (AFP) – © 2022 AFP