Chinese President Xi says he would work with Trump to stabilise bilateral ties with US in last meeting with Biden
The meeting between Biden and Xi took place on Saturday in Lima, Peru on the sidelines of the APEC summit of Pacific leaders, during which Chinese President Xi underscored to his US counterpart, who will demit power on January 20, 2025, that "a new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won. Containing China is unwise, unacceptable and bound to fail".
According to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Xi pointed out from his deep observation that Thucydides's Trap is not a historical inevitability, a new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won, and containing China is unwise, unacceptable and bound to fail. The Thucydides Trap is a theory that when a rising power threatens an established power, it can lead to political tensions and war.
China and the U.S., as two major countries in the world, need to bear in mind the benefit of the whole world and inject more certainty and positive energy into today’s turbulent world, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson as saying in Beijing on Sunday.
This meeting is the third between the two Presidents and follows their April 2, 2024, telephone call. The two leaders had a candid, constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including areas of cooperation and areas of difference, the White House said in a readout of the final meeting between Biden and Xi.
President Biden underscored that U.S. investment in sources of strength at home and alignment with partners and allies around the world have been central to his Administration’s foreign policy approach. He welcomed efforts to maintain open channels of communication with China to "manage competition responsibly and prevent it from veering into conflict or confrontation."
The two leaders reviewed the bilateral relationship over the past four years and took stock of efforts to responsibly manage competitive aspects of the relationship and advance areas of cooperation since the Woodside Summit in November 2023, including counternarcotics, military-military communication, artificial intelligence-related risks, climate change, and people-to-people exchanges.
Both sides welcomed the resumption over the last year of high-level military-to-military communications, the U.S.-China Defense Policy Coordination Talks, U.S.-China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings, and engagements between theatre commanders. Both presidents affirmed the need to continue these channels of communication to avoid any miscommunication that could pose security challenges amidst tensions over Taiwan.
The two leaders also exchanged views on key regional and global challenges. President Biden condemned the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to Russia, a dangerous expansion of Russia’s unlawful war against Ukraine with serious consequences for both European and Indo-Pacific peace and security.
According to the White House, Biden also expressed deep concern over China's continued support for Russia’s defence industrial base amidst Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
President Biden emphasised the United States’ commitment to upholding international law and freedom of navigation, overflight, and peace and stability in the South China Sea and East China Sea. On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States’ one China policy remains unchanged, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.
China views self-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.
He reiterated that the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, that we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, and that the world has an interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. He called for an end to destabilising China's dangerous military activity around Taiwan.
The White House said that Biden raised concerns about China's unfair trade policies and emphasised that Washington will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine the national security of the United States or its partners, without unduly limiting trade and investment.
He also underscored the importance of human rights and the responsibility of all nations to respect their human rights commitments.
The two leaders stressed the importance of "responsibly managing competitive aspects of the relationship, preventing conflict, maintaining open lines of communication, cooperating on areas of shared interest, upholding the UN Charter, and all countries treating each other with respect and finding a way to live alongside each other peacefully," the White House readout says.
Both leaders reiterated the importance of maintaining a strategic communication channel to responsibly manage the relationship and called for the continued use of diplomatic, military, law enforcement, commercial, and financial channels to stabilise their relationship.
President Xi said he was prepared to maintain stable ties with the US once Biden exits the world stage in just over two months.
China is ready to engage in dialogue, expand cooperation, and manage differences with the incoming U.S. government to maintain stability in China-U.S. relations to the benefit of the two countries and the world at large, the foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Biden, meanwhile, said strategic competition between the two global powers should not escalate into war.
"Our two countries cannot let any of this competition veer into conflict. That is our responsibility and over the last four years I think we've proven it's possible to have this relationship," Biden said.
Analysts say US-China relations could become more volatile when Trump returns to office on January 20. The world will watch for actions from the Republican president on how he would treat Beijing in his second innings at the White House. (Ends)
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