2023-09-10 23:01:15
by Viviana Mazza
The president of the United States visits Hanoi to strengthen relations in Asia (and to contain Chinese influence)
FROM OUR REPORTER
NEW DELHI — After calling the Chinese economy “a time bomb” a month ago, Joe Biden has returned to talking about Beijing’s difficulties. He did so in Xi Jinping’s “backyard”, in a press conference, after having strengthened the “partnership” with Vietnam, bringing the United States to the highest level of bilateral relations expected from the Asian country (on an equal footing with China, Russia, India and South Korea).
When asked when he plans to see the Chinese leader (absent at the G20 just concluded in New Delhi and with whom he has not spoken for 10 months), the American president replied: «It’s not like a crisis will break out if we don’t speak to each other directly, even if it would be better do it. But look, it’s not a criticism, it’s a fact: he is very busy at the moment… Xi is having difficulties.” Biden cited problems in the real estate sector, high unemployment and the fact that “one of the central economic principles of his plan is not working. I’m not happy about it, but it’s how it is.” He said he doesn’t believe these difficulties will make a conflict more likely: «I don’t think it will lead China to invade Taiwan, quite the opposite. It probably won’t have the same capacity as before.”
Words that will not please Beijing, which reiterated on Monday that the United States should “abandon the Cold War mentality”. After the signing in New Delhi of the memorandum of understanding for the India-Middle East-Europe corridor which Italy also joins, the Chinese newspaper Global Times defined the United States as “copycats” who would do better to repair their infrastructures in homeland.
«I don’t want China to be contained. I just want to ensure that there is an honest and clear relationship”, said Biden, who announced that he had seen Prime Minister Li Qiang on the sidelines of the G20 and that they discussed “stability”. «What I have tried to do with this trip and in the past months – she added – is to strengthen alliances to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific. Not to isolate China, but to ensure compliance with international rules.”
«The United States is a Pacific nation. And we’re not going anywhere,” Biden stressed. Vietnam is not being asked to choose between China and the US – it is unlikely to participate in a military coalition, given its “four no policy” (no to military alliances, no to siding with one country against another, no to foreign military bases , no to the use of force in international relations). But Kurt Campbell, White House advisor for the Indo-Pacific, considers it a crucial “swing state” (a term usually used for American states “in the balance” between one candidate and another in elections): it is among the few Southeast Asian countries have publicly rejected Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea and made clear yesterday that it hopes Washington continues to ensure “navigation, safe overflight” and “legitimate interests” in the region.
Biden is finally asked whether the compromise on Ukraine in the G20 joint statement – defined as “a success” by Minister Lavrov because “it does not mention Russia” – is a reflection of how this crisis divides the global South. Biden says no: it’s a problem linked to Russia and China. But Lula promised that at the next G20, “if Putin comes to Brazil, he will not be arrested.” And Turkey’s Erdogan asks that Moscow not be “marginalized” in the wheat talks. “Stop flirting with maniacs,” Zelensky’s advisor says from Kiev.
Tired, Biden tells journalists that it’s time to go to sleep after a 5-day trip around the world, but continues to answer questions: after he uses the term “Third World” for the second time, correcting himself, the staff closes the press conference . However, the Vietnamese general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong complimented her: “You haven’t aged a day, in fact you look even better than before.”
September 10, 2023 (changed September 10, 2023 | 11:00 pm)
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