The front page of the People’s Daily on the meeting between Xi Jinping and Biden: “Frank and in-depth discussions”. The reactions of the meeting between the two presidents
Mirror of history, red line and relief for the world. Are the three Chinese views on the vertice tra Xi Jinping e Joe Biden
. “We must use history as a mirror”: this is Xi’s first sentence that was relaunched by the Xinhua agency. It signals the Chinese request to cultivate common interests to mutual benefit, if not quite return to the «business as usual» with the United States. The meaning of the parable on the mirror is that the Cold War must not be repeated because «the economies of China and the United States are deeply integrated and both are faced with new development tasks, so it is in our mutual interest to benefit from the growth parallel”.
Joe Biden doesn’t want the cold war either
(even if he says that the competition “is fierce”) but clarified that China should also make some concessions, on Ukraine, North Korea, Taiwan. And time is not long, after years of dangerous spiral towards irreparable break in relationships. At present, the two presidents have contented themselves with thestrategic ambiguity on Taiwan
: the Beijing press underlines that Biden “does not support the independence of the island”
, passing over the fact that he has said several times that he would also protect Taipei militarily from a Chinese attack. Before the summit, the White House had set the main objective of clarifying the “red lines” that should not be crossed in order to stabilize relations between the two superpowers.
Xi has drawn his “first red line”: Taiwan. However, Biden left the meeting convinced that “there are no signs of an imminent invasion”. On Ukraine it was Xi who played his game of ambiguity: «wars do not produce a winner; there is no simple solution; China encourages peace talks.” However, there is still no offer of mediation, despite the friendship, even personal, between Xi and Putin. The Chinese leader repeated his usual formula yesterday: “We hope that the United States, NATO and the European Union will resume dialogue with Russia and that Moscow and Kiev will resume peace talks”.
Today the French Emmanuel Macron meeting Xi explicitly asked him to “call Putin to convince him to sit down at the peace table”. It should be noted that in these months of war, Xi has spoken several times with the tsar, but has never had contact with the Ukrainian president Zelensky. There were no openings on the North Korean dossier: Biden admitted that “it is not clear whether China has the ability to convince Kim” (at least not to order a new nuclear test). Korea is not mentioned in the summit reports released by Beijing. Of course, Xi would not be exactly happy to witness a nuclear explosion at the Pungyye-ri firing range, which is a few tens of kilometers from the Chinese border. But in recent months in the Security Council, China has united with Russia and has blocked any American attempt to condemn Kim’s missile launches.
Editorials in the Chinese press today say the cordial handshake and long-awaited face-to-face between the two leaders “brings relief to the world.”. “It’s a new beginning,” commented Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, classified as a “warrior wolf” and just promoted in the Communist Politburo. Xi’s decision to go to the G20 in Bali with his wife Peng Liyuan contributes to the relaxing climate: a great comeback after almost three years of pandemic seclusion. The Chinese also emphasize the form: Joe Biden went to meet Xi in the hotel where the Chinese delegation has set up his headquarters. It would be a sign of recognition for Xi’s ten years of presidency, which make him a “senior” compared to the two years spent by the American leader in the White House. Between the lines of the editorials there is also a polemical sting: «Whoever creates the problem should solve it and it was the Americans who caused the deterioration of relations». Here: the risk is that Xi does not understand that Biden has given him an opportunity not to be wasted, believing himself to be the winner without having done anything yet.
November 15, 2022 (change November 15, 2022 | 12:09)
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