Following the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday, analysts say Beijing is hoping to de-escalate tension with the U.S. by easing its stance and projecting a less confrontational tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the official readout, Xi states China has no plan to surpass or supplant America and he also notes that China doesn\u2019t export its ideology, showing a markedly narrower scope of geopolitical ambition,\u201d Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University (ANU), told VOA in a written response. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the messages are in stark contrast to Xi\u2019s previous proclamation that \u201cthe East is rising and the West is falling.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the official readout released on Thursday, Xi highlighted the importance for Beijing and Washington to avoid confrontation, saying that \u201cturning their back on each other\u201d is not an option for the two superpowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor-country competition can\u2019t solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThe world is big enough to accommodate both countries and one country\u2019s success is an opportunity for the other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from emphasizing the need to avoid conflict, Xi said China has no plan to \u201csurpass or unseat the United States\u201d and that it doesn\u2019t export its ideology.<\/p>\n
He laid out five principles for Beijing and Washington to manage bilateral relations, calling on both sides to develop a \u201cright perception,\u201d jointly manage disagreements, advance mutually beneficial cooperation, shoulder responsibilities as major countries, and promote people-to-people ties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that they appreciate each other\u2019s principles and red lines and have more communications, more dialogues, more consultations and calmly handle their differences as well as accidents,\u201d Xi said.<\/p>\n
Some experts say the points highlighted in the readout and other efforts from Beijing before the meeting all suggest the Chinese government\u2019s desire to frame the meeting between Biden and Xi as a success. \u201cI think the overall response [from Beijing] was firm but positive,\u201d Amanda Hsiao, senior China analyst at International Crisis Group, told VOA by phone.<\/p>\n
In her view, the Chinese government wants to project the image that it remains in control of the bilateral relationship but it\u2019s also opening up to the U.S. \u201c[Beijing wants to show] that it is extending a gesture out to the U.S. to improve relations but it\u2019s doing so from a position of strength,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While some analysts view Beijing\u2019s messages from the readout as largely conciliatory and positive, others say it still reflects China\u2019s reservation about Washington\u2019s possible attempt to influence its governance system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mention of not changing each other\u2019s systems suggests China\u2019s suspicion that the United States is out to alter its communist party-dominated system,\u201d Ian Chong, a political scientist at National Singapore University, told VOA in a written response.<\/p>\n
Xi emphasizes \u2018common interests\u2019<\/p>\n
Apart from emphasizing the importance of preventing competition from escalating into conflict, Xi also highlighted the need for China and the U.S. to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas, including economy, trade, agriculture, climate change, and artificial intelligence. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe common interests between China and the United States have increased, not decreased,\u201d he said, according to the readout.<\/p>\n
Despite his emphasis on broadening the scope of bilateral cooperation, Xi also urged the U.S. to end export controls and the practice of investment screening, referring to a government executive order that restricts U.S. investments into Chinese companies or Chinese-owned companies engaged in three advanced technology areas.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStifling China\u2019s technological progress is nothing but a move to contain China\u2019s high-quality development and deprive the Chinese people of their right to development,\u201d Xi said, adding that China\u2019s development and growth \u201cwon\u2019t be stopped by external forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sung from ANU said these messages show that Washington\u2019s controls risking may be generating enough pressure on China to force Beijing to \u201cpivot back to a more conciliatory posture.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChina\u2019s economic woes seem to be catching up with its foreign policy rhetoric,\u201d he told VOA.<\/p>\n
As part of the effort to encourage foreign investment in China, Xi told a group of U.S. business leaders that China would be a \u201cfriend and partner\u201d of the U.S. while reiterating that Beijing \u201cnever bet on the United States to lose.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world needs China and the U.S. to work together for a better future,\u201d he told an audience of business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. \u201cChina is ready to be a partner and friend of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the economic slowdown that China has experienced since the start of 2023, Chong in Singapore said Xi would like to encourage foreign investment and technological exchanges, as it \u201ccould help foster growth\u201d in the Chinese economy.<\/p>\n
Attempt to reduce tension over Taiwan<\/p>\n
Despite the ongoing tension between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, Xi still briefly addressed the topic during his meeting with Biden. According to the readout, he urged the U.S. to \u201ctake real actions\u201d to honor its commitment of \u201cnot supporting Taiwan independence, stop arming Taiwan and support China\u2019s reunification.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChina will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Compared to previous statements on Taiwan, Hsiao from the International Crisis Group said Xi\u2019s remarks on Wednesday were relatively brief. \u201cIn the past, you would see a long elaboration of China\u2019s position on Taiwan, but this tone is different,\u201d she told VOA.<\/p>\n
In her view, the latest statement from Beijing is more specific about what China is asking of the U.S. when it comes to Taiwan. \u201cI think what we have seen from this readout, as well as from the U.S. side, indicate that the two sides are seeking to de-escalate around Taiwan, particularly because there are elections coming up, which could create unknowns in the relationship and could potentially see tensions flare up,\u201d Hsiao said.<\/p>\n
While the messages from China seem more positive and conciliatory, Hsiao said the essence of U.S.-China relations hasn\u2019t changed. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt remains a competitive relationship and even if China continues to say that it believes it\u2019s not a competitive relationship, it will continue to see Washington as a key rival in reality,\u201d she told VOA.<\/p>\n
She thinks the biggest achievement of the Biden-Xi meeting is to create some protection against some key events that will take place in the next year, including presidential elections in Taiwan and the U.S. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that this meeting occurred so we have that buffer going into the year where things might get commensurate,\u201d Hsiao said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday, analysts say Beijing is hoping to de-escalate tension with the U.S. by easing its stance and projecting a less confrontational tone. \u201cIn the official readout, Xi states China has no plan to surpass or supplant America and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":495,"featured_media":15694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}