xi jinping visit usa

China’s Xi Jinping arrives in US ahead of summit with Joe Biden

Xi is on his first visit to the US in six years as Washington looks to cool tensions with Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in the United States for his first visit in six years, after US President Joe Biden said his goal in their bilateral talks this week was to restore normal communications with Beijing, including military-to-military contacts.

Xi is due to meet Biden near San Francisco on Wednesday morning US time, before attending the annual summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.

Keep reading

China’s xi to meet biden: what’s the agenda, will gaza war be discussed, us, china need ‘healthy economic relations’, yellen says, ‘the china project’ media shuts, blaming ‘politically-motivated attacks’, us viewed more positively as china sinks in approval, poll shows.

The summit will be their first face-to-face meeting in a year and follows months of high-level meetings to prepare the ground, after tensions between the two countries spiked over issues from trade to human rights and the pandemic.

Speaking ahead of his departure, Biden said his goal was simply to improve the bilateral relationship.

“We’re not trying to decouple from China. What we’re trying to do is change the relationship for the better,” Biden told reporters at the White House before heading to San Francisco.

Asked what he hoped to achieve at the meeting, he said he wanted “to get back on a normal course of corresponding; being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another if there’s a crisis; being able to make sure our [militaries] still have contact with one another”.

Xi waved from the door of his Air China plane before walking down the steps to meet US officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, who were waiting on the tarmac.

He is on his first visit to US since 2017 when he met then president Donald Trump.

China, which regularly talks about “red lines” on issues such as the self-ruled island Taiwan, which it claims as its own and its expansive claims in the South China Sea , has been more circumspect about its expectations for the summit.

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry mentioned only “in-depth communication” and “major issues concerning world peace” when asked about the meeting this week.

Nevertheless, analysts said the very fact the talks were taking place was significant.

“The importance of the much-expected meeting between President Biden and President Xi in San Francisco cannot be understated, no matter the likely shallowness of the outcomes,” Alicia Garcia Herrero of investment banking group Natixis wrote in an analysis ahead of the summit.

Protests expected

Crowds gathered along the route of Xi’s motorcade to the luxury hotel where the Chinese delegation is staying.

Some held signs that read “End CCP,” the initials of Chinese Communist Party. Another sign read “Warmly Welcome President Xi Jinping” and was stuck to concrete bollards.

Outside the hotel, several hundred Beijing supporters waved US and Chinese flags as they waited and played the patriotic song Ode to the Motherland through loudspeakers

Scuffles broke out with the few anti-Xi protesters who were there, but police quickly intervened to restore calm.

Pro-China and anti-China demonstrators also gathered near the Moscone Center, the venue where many of the APEC meetings were being held. Larger protests, including by rights groups critical of Xi’s policies in Tibet, Hong Kong and towards Muslim Uyghurs, are expected near the summit venue on Wednesday.

Xi and Biden are expected to meet at Filoli Estate, a country house museum about 40km (25 miles) south of San Francisco, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing three senior officials in the US administration who requested anonymity. The venue has not yet been confirmed by the White House and Chinese government.

While economic issues are likely to be high on the agenda of the meeting, including steps to curb the production of the potent synthetic opioid drug fentanyl , increasing geopolitical tensions are likely to dominate discussions.

White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden and Xi would talk about the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza as well as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine .

While Washington has sought to reset ties with China, it has also signalled that will not be at the expense of key US concerns.

Biden is “not going to be afraid to – to confront where confrontation is needed on issues where we don’t see eye to eye with President Xi and the PRC,” Kirby said, using the initials for the People’s Republic of China.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told APEC ministers that the US believed in “a region where economies are free to choose their own path … where goods, ideas, people flow lawfully and freely”.

Blinken did not mention China by name, but his language echoed US rhetoric in recent years in which Washington has accused China of bullying smaller countries in the Asia Pacific and trying to undermine what the US and its allies call the “rules-based” international order.

Highlights: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping talk military cooperation, climate and Taiwan

What to know about the biden-xi summit:.

• President Joe Biden met face to face with Chinese President Xi Jinping today and said they made "real progress." It was the first conversation between the two leaders in a year.
• The summit was held at the Filoli Historic House and Garden in Woodside, California, about 35 miles south of San Francisco.
• The two leaders discussed a variety of thorny issues , including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Biden would like to see China use its influence with Iran to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from widening, and he was expected to press Xi to use his leverage to stop North Korea from supplying weapons to Russia.
• The leaders were also expected to agree on steps to curb the flow of fentanyl from China to the U.S. and reopen military communication channels Beijing closed in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year.

What the U.S. and China say about their relationship

Jennifer Jett

U.S. and Chinese readouts of the Biden-Xi meeting reflected the complicated relationship between the world’s two biggest economies.

Biden “emphasized that the United States and China are in competition,” the White House readout said, and that the U.S. “would always stand up for its interests, its values, and its allies and partners.” But he said the world expected the two countries “to manage competition responsibly to prevent it from veering into conflict, confrontation, or a new Cold War.”

The Chinese readout said that “turning their back on each other is not an option” for the U.S. and China, and that the world is big enough for both to succeed.

But Xi also objected to U.S. actions he sees as aimed at stifling China’s development, such as export controls on semiconductors and other strategically sensitive technologies. “China does not have a plan to surpass or unseat the United States,” the Chinese readout said. “Likewise, the United States should not scheme to suppress and contain China.”

Taiwan welcomes Biden's support for peace over cross-strait issues

Mithil Aggarwal

Taiwan welcomed Biden's call for peace in the Taiwan Strait, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu said today, adding it felt "affirmed and welcomed."

“We have never sought to predict whether or when China might attack," Liu said at a news conference, adding Taiwan is boosting its defenses and winning international support.

"This is to let China understand the high importance the international community attaches to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the high price of starting a war and to not act blindly without thinking," he said.

Biden raised human rights concerns in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong with Xi, White House says

Biden raised concerns about "human rights abuses" in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong with Xi, the White House said today in a readout of their meeting.

"President Biden underscored the universality of human rights and the responsibility of all nations to respect their international human rights commitments," it said.

Gwen Stefani to hollaback at APEC

Megan Lebowitz

Gwen Stefani is tonight's APEC dinner entertainment, according to a pool report.

Biden concludes opening remarks welcoming leaders to San Francisco

Biden concluded brief opening remarks at the dinner, welcoming leaders to San Francisco.

"Over the next few days, I hope we'll all take full advantage of this summit to make new connections and spark new partnerships," Biden said. "Because every step we take to deepen our cooperation, to launch a new venture, to tackle a challenge that's an impact on all of us, is a step toward realization of the enormous potential of our Asian Pacific future."

U.S. and China vow to ‘accelerate efforts’ on climate change

Though Biden did not mention climate change at his solo news conference, readouts of his meeting with Xi from both the U.S. and Chinese sides noted the importance of climate cooperation between the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

“The two leaders underscored the importance of working together to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate crisis in this critical decade,” both readouts said.

They also welcomed an agreement reached this week that revives a bilateral working group on climate action. China had cut off climate talks last year in protest of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, a self-ruling island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.

The climate agreement comes weeks before countries gather in Dubai for COP28, a crucial United Nations climate conference.

Steve Kerr introduces Biden at dinner

Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, just introduced Biden for his remarks at the APEC leaders' dinner.

Indo-Pacific trade deal stalled in setback for White House

Negotiators have yet to conclude a trade deal among 14 Indo-Pacific countries that the Biden administration had hoped to announce this week as it tries to counter China’s growing economic influence in the region.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that while there had been “significant progress” on the trade section of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an initiative the White House announced last year , it was “likely to require further work,” Reuters reported.

Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about labor and environmental standards, as well as the deal’s potential impact on their election prospects.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which does not include China, is generally viewed in Asia as insufficient compared with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that was essentially killed when former President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2017. China is now seeking to join a successor agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.

Biden arrives at APEC reception

Biden's motorcade arrived at the APEC leaders' welcome reception, according to a pool report. The reception is taking place at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

There was a large number of demonstrators at a few intersections along the route, according to a pool report.

Biden said he would still call Xi a "dictator" in response to a question.

Biden said at a news conference that he's dedicated to bringing hostages in Gaza home.

Biden says he would still call Xi a dictator

Biden stood by his description of Xi this year as a “dictator.”

“He’s a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours,” Biden said.

Biden first called Xi a dictator at a fundraiser in June, catching senior U.S. officials off - guard . The Chinese government said at the time that Biden’s comments were “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”

Biden says the U.S. and China will work to decrease fentanyl coming into the country.

No agreement on U.S. citizens detained in China

Biden said that he had raised the issue of U.S. citizens detained in China or prevented from leaving the country and that he had named specific people but that there was “no agreement on that.”

Before Biden’s meeting today with Xi, U.S. lawmakers and family members had called for the release of Americans the U.S. government considers wrongfully detained in China, including Mark Swidan, Kai Li and David Lin.

Biden sees 'two-state solution' in Israel-Hamas war

Zoë Richards

Biden said tonight that he didn't believe the Israel-Hamas war would end "until there's a two-state solution."

He was answering a question about setting a deadline around the U.S.' support for Israel in the conflict.

"I can’t tell you how long it’s going to last," Biden said. "But I can tell you I don’t think it ultimately ends until there’s a two-state solution. I made it clear to the Israelis I think it’s a big mistake for them to think they’re going to occupy Gaza."

'Not going to stop 'till we get her' Biden says of 3-year-old American hostage

Biden was asked by a reporter about hostages in Gaza, including a 3-year-old American reportedly being held.

"I'm not going to stop till we get her," he said.

Biden says Hamas committed war crime by operating under a hospital

Biden said at the briefing that he discussed the situation in Gaza with Xi.

Biden said Hamas' "headquarters, their military," are under a hospital, calling it a war crime.

"But one thing has been established: It is that Hamas does have headquarters, weapons, material below this hospital, and I suspect others," he added later.

Biden says U.S. policy on Taiwan is ‘not going to change’

On Taiwan, Biden said he told Xi “that we maintain an agreement that there is a one-China policy and that I’m not going to change that.”

Under the “one-China policy,” Washington acknowledges Beijing’s position that the self-ruling island democracy of Taiwan is part of China without endorsing it and maintains unofficial relations with Taipei.

“That’s not going to change, and so that’s about the extent to which we discussed it,” Biden said.

Biden says he doesn't expect Chinese interference in Taiwan's elections

Biden said at the news conference that he discussed Taiwan's coming presidential election, which is set for January. He said he made it clear to Xi that he did not expect any interference in the island's election: "any at all."

Biden notes fresh 'cooperation' to reduce transport of fentanyl ingredients from China

Biden that said at the news conference that the U.S. and China are "restarting cooperation" to reduce the amount of fentanyl shipped directly from China to the U.S., which initially made progress in 2019.

"In the years since that time, the challenge has evolved from finished fentanyl to fentanyl chemical ingredients" being transported, Biden said.

"So today, with this new understanding, we're taking action to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses from China to the Western Hemisphere. It's going to save lives, and I appreciate President Xi's commitment," he added.

The U.S. and China are resuming direct military talks, Biden said

Biden said at a news conference after the summit that the two countries are resuming military-to-military talks, which are intended to prevent unintentional conflict.

Biden also said the countries made progress in plans to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors.

The news conference is beginning

Peter Nicholas

Biden has begun speaking.

News conference starting shortly

Alexandra Bacallao

Biden will hold a news conference to discuss the meeting shortly.

Biden touts 'productive' meeting with Xi

Caroline Kenny

In a new post on X, Biden praised what he called a "constructive" summit with Xi.

“I’ve just concluded a day of meetings with President Xi, and I believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had,” he tweeted. “We built on groundwork laid over the past several months of diplomacy between our countries and made important progress.”

The post included a picture of Biden and Xi meeting alongside top administration officials.

Chinese official says U.S. should 'support China's peaceful reunification' with Taiwan

A spokesperson for China's Foreign Affairs Ministry who attended today's summit said on X that Xi said the "Taiwan question" remains the "most sensitive issue" in U.S.-China relations.

"The U.S. side should take real actions to honor its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence', stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification," said Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Hua Chunying, a spokesperson. "China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable."

Biden-Xi summit concludes, White House says

The White House said shortly before 3:30 p.m. PT that the Biden-Xi summit is over, according to a pool report.

The summit lasted a little more than four hours.

Biden gives thumbs-up and responds to question about the meeting

Ghael Fobes

As Biden and Xi walked by reporters, Biden gave a thumbs-up in response to shouted questions about the meeting.

Asked how the talks are going, Biden said, "Well."

Biden and Xi emerge from working lunch meeting

Biden and Xi walked together by reporters this afternoon after they had a working lunch meeting.

In a little more than an hour, Biden is expected to hold a solo press conference.

Biden tweets during summit: 'We made real progress'

Monica Alba

Biden tweeted that he and Xi "made real progress" during today's summit, and emphasized the importance of understanding one another.

"I value the conversation I had today with President Xi because I think it’s paramount that we understand each other clearly, leader to leader," Biden said on X. "There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress."

Diplomacy, with a side of ravioli

The White House released the menu for the Biden-Xi working lunch:

• Herbed ricotta ravioli
• Artichoke crisps
• Tarragon roasted heritage chicken
• Carolina gold rice pilaf
• Charred broccolini and Brussels sprouts
• Almond meringue cake
• Praline buttercream
• Concord grape sauce

Biden and Xi have working lunch meeting

Biden and Xi are participating in a working lunch meeting, according to a White House pool report. The meeting started shortly after 2 p.m. PT.

Biden is attending the meeting with Blinken and Sullivan. Xi is attending the meeting with top officials Wang Yi and Cai Qi.

Biden-Xi expanded meeting wraps up

Biden and Xi's expanded bilateral meeting ended at 1:35 p.m. PT, according to a pool report. Now, the two leaders will go into their next closed-door meetings, which will be a smaller group.

The larger meeting appears to have lasted about two hours.

Coming into today's meeting, expectations were low.

Couples that bilat together...

Andrea Mitchell

Today's meeting could be the first time a husband and wife are both at the table for a major U.S. bilat meeting.  

Lael Brainard, rirector of the National Economic Council (and former vice chair of the Federal Reserve) is sitting next to John Kerry.  

At the other end of the table is her husband, Kurt Campbell, currently National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific and who has been nominated to be deputy secretary of state.

I was very struck by Xi’s opening comments referring to “respect” in connection with the right way for two countries to get along with each other. His comments that “it’s unrealistic for one country to remodel the other” would appear to be a reference to U.S. concerns about human rights abuses in China and other domestic policies.

Here are the U.S. and Chinese participants

Rebecca Shabad is in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. delegation includes:

• Antony Blinken, Secretary of State 
• Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury 
• Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce 

Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

• Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council
• John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate 
• Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council

Nicholas Burns, Ambassador of the United States to the People’s Republic of China

• Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
• Sarah Beran, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for China, National Security Council
• Rush Doshi, Deputy Senior Director for China, National Security Council
• Pierce Davis, Director for China, National Security Council

The Chinese delegation includes:

• President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China
• Cai Qi, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCCPC, Director of the General Office of the CCCPC
• Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CCCPC, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Jiang Jinquan, Director of the Policy Research Office of the CCCPC
• Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission
• Lan Fo’an, Minister of Finance 
• Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce 
• Ma Zhaoxu, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs 
• Xie Feng, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States
• Lu Luhua, Secretary of President Xi Jinping 
• H.E. Hua Chunying, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs 
• Yang Tao, Director-General, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, MFA
• Zheng Liqiao, Deputy Director-General, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, MFA

Biden-Xi summit begins

Shortly after both leaders delivered opening remarks, the press was escorted out of the room for the meeting to start. Both leaders were flanked at a long table by a slew of top administration officials.

Xi says 'not an option' for U.S. and China to turn their backs on each other

Xi said in his remarks to Biden and the U.S. delegation that the world has changed since he last met with Biden in Bali a year ago.

"The world has emerged from the Covid pandemic, but is still under its tremendous impacts. The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish," Xi said.

The Chinese president said his country's relationship with the U.S. has "never been smooth sailing" over the last 50 years "yet it has kept moving forward" with twists and turns.

" It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has terrible consequences for both sides," he said. "The world at large is big enough for the two countries to succeed."

Xi said he looks forward to exchanging views on various world issues during the summit.

Biden delivers opening comments to Xi

Biden delivered opening remarks to Xi before the summit in a portion of the meeting open to the press. He thanked Xi for coming to the U.S. and reflected on the leaders' last meeting in Bali.

Biden also emphasized that the leaders had to ensure that competition should not veer into conflict, which echoed remarks administration officials have delivered in the past over the countries' relations.

"I value our conversation because I think it's paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication," Biden said.

Biden and Xi shake hands

Biden greeted Xi on the red carpet for the Chinese president's arrival. The two leaders briefly shook hands before entering the building for the summit.

Xi arrives at the summit

Xi arrived at the meeting in Woodside, California, and was greeted at the door by Biden.

U.S. military members flanked a red carpet at the entrance, with a U.S. flag on one side and a Chinese flag on the other.

The summit marks the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders in a year.

Biden has arrived at the summit

Kyla Guilfoil

Biden arrived at the meeting site, Filoli Historic House and Garden, in Woodside, Calif., at 1:51 p.m. ET.

Who's in the motorcade heading to the summit?

Officials from the White House are officially en route to the meeting with Xi, including:

Secretary Antony Blinken, Department of State

Secretary Janet Yellen, Department of the Treasury

Secretary Gina Raimondo, Department of Commerce

Jen O’Malley Dillon, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff

Mike Donilon, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President

Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Adviser to the President & Director of Oval Office Operations

Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Press Secretary

Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications

Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President & Director of the National Economic Council

Ryan Montoya, Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance

Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and NSC Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific

Curtis Ried, Deputy Assistant to the President & NSC Chief of Staff & Executive Secretary

John Kirby, Deputy Assistant to the President & NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications

Adrienne Watson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Press & NSC Spokesperson

Carlyn Reichel, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Speechwriting & Strategic Initiatives, National Security Council

Sarah Beran, Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs

Charlie Fromstein, Director for Visits and Diplomatic Affairs, National Security Council

Ariana Berengaut, Senior Adviser to the National Security Adviser

Biden heads to APEC Summit

Annemarie Bonner

Biden is headed to the summit site in Woodside, Calif., at the Filoli Historic House and Garden. He's scheduled to arrive at approximately 10:47 a.m. PT.

DeSantis writes China policy op-ed

Alec Hernández

Presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has framed China as the United States’ top national security threat in both policy and rhetoric — is out with an op-ed today published in the New York Post outlining his China-focused foreign policy plans.

Both US parties have mistakenly treated China as a friendly competitor, letting a hostile Marxist regime exploit our openness and steal our technology, jobs, industries and assets through trade abuses, currency manipulation and slave labor. It’s allowed Beijing’s defense budget and military to rival Washington’s, putting China on track to surpass us economically.” “While adversaries such as Russia, Iran and North Korea threaten America and must be countered, China is our foremost national-security threat. When you examine the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, who is Russia’s main backer? China. If you look at what’s happening in Gaza with Hamas, much of the terrorism is funded by Iran, whose regime is ultimately funded through black-market oil sales to China. And China supports and protects the totalitarian regime in North Korea. We must address China’s behavior to counter these other threats effectively.” “I will posture ground-based missiles with allies in the Indo-Pacific as a ‘ring of fire’ to deter China’s aggression and invest in ports in the region to ensure free and fair access to the seas.”

Biden and Xi meet in effort to smooth tensions

SAN FRANCISCO — Biden will meet face-to-face with his Chinese counterpart today, breaking a yearlong silence marked by rising tensions that have stoked fears their countries are on a path toward war.

The summit will take place in San Francisco this morning at a location U.S. officials declined to reveal out of security concerns.

It will be the first time that Biden and Xi have talked — much less met — since a meeting on the sidelines of an international summit in Bali, Indonesia, a year ago.

Since that time, relations between the U.S. and China have soured in ways that elevate the risk of an unwanted confrontation, U.S. officials said. As an example, when the Biden administration shot down a Chinese spy balloon that crossed the U.S. in February, the Pentagon had no one in China to contact because Beijing had closed an important military communications channel, a senior Biden administration official told reporters yesterday while previewing the Biden-Xi meeting.

Read the full story here.

Report casts doubt on U.S.-China diplomacy

Ken Dilanian

The newly released annual  report  by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission includes a sobering assessment of the state of U.S.-China relations and suggests the futility — in the minds of the commissioners and staff — of high-level diplomacy like the meeting between Biden and Xi today.

“While the top-level contacts reflected a general desire, at least by the United States, to improve the relationship with Beijing and create an air of normalcy, the new normal is one of continuing, long-term strategic and systemic competition,” the report’s executive summary begins. “China’s Communist Party (CCP) regime gives no sign of altering its policies, either at home or abroad. Beijing continues to reject cooperation with the United States on fundamental questions of national security, economics, or trade."

"The result of high-level meetings between the United States and China has been merely the promise of further meetings — that is, of more talk rather than concrete actions. China now appears to view diplomacy with the United States primarily as a tool for forestalling and delaying U.S. pressure over a period of years while China moves ever further down the path of developing its own economic, military, and technological capabilities."

The report includes a blunt assessment of China’s influence operations in the U.S. and around the world, saying they "seek to undermine political processes and manipulate political or social activity to disguise actions that advance China’s interests as being the efforts of domestic constituencies."

“Under Xi’s rule, China’s overseas influence activities are now more prevalent, institutionalized, technologically sophisticated, and aggressive than under his predecessors," the report adds.

“The Chinese Party-state exhibits a growing and increasingly brazen tendency to employ coercion in tandem with persuasion to conduct overseas influence activities, often in ways that challenge other countries’ sovereignty or threaten the rights of persons living within their borders," the report continues. "Beijing seeks to sow discord in other countries, including the United States, where the uptick in China’s influence activities has inflamed rhetoric and contributed to a troubling rise in violence against Asian Americans.”

Biden and Xi are set for a high-stakes meeting in California to stabilize a relationship that’s reached its lowest point in decades. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for "TODAY."

Biden-Xi meeting offers both leaders opportunities — and risks

SAN FRANCISCO — Simply by sitting down with his Chinese counterpart Wednesday, President Joe Biden may go a long way toward calming voters who fear the global powers are headed toward open conflict.

After a fraught year marked by near misses in the skies between U.S. and Chinese warplanes, both Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping need the meeting that’s set to take place in California, if for no other reason than to reassure a jittery world audience that they are once again talking, foreign policy experts said. 

Each president seems to have space back home to ease tensions, polling suggests. A  Morning Consult survey  showed that the share of Chinese adults who view the U.S. in hostile terms has dropped 9 points since April.  Another survey  found that only 13% of U.S. voters wanted an aggressive approach toward China, while a majority worried more about open conflict with China than about the U.S.’ not appearing tough enough in its dealings with Beijing.

Such trends could blunt a potential line of attack against Biden from Donald Trump, the Republican presidential primary front-runner. In the 2020 campaign, Trump sought to paint Biden as  soft on China , an accusation he’s likely to repeat in a rematch. But the public’s mood suggests that Biden could gain traction with more moderate and independent-minded voters by pursuing a dialogue with Xi and eschewing the hawkish stance many in Trump’s orbit embrace.

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Readout of President Joe   Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of   China

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today held a Summit with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in Woodside, California.  The two leaders held a candid and constructive discussion on a range of bilateral and global issues including areas of potential cooperation and exchanged views on areas of difference. 

President Biden emphasized that the United States and China are in competition, noting that the United States would continue to invest in the sources of American strength at home and align with allies and partners around the world.  He stressed that the United States would always stand up for its interests, its values, and its allies and partners.  He reiterated that the world expects the United States and China to manage competition responsibly to prevent it from veering into conflict, confrontation, or a new Cold War.

The two leaders made progress on a number of key issues. They welcomed the resumption of bilateral cooperation to combat global illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking, including synthetic drugs like fentanyl, and establishment of a working group for ongoing communication and law enforcement coordination on counternarcotics issues. President Biden stressed that this new step will advance the U.S. whole-of-government effort to counter the evolving threat of illicit synthetic drugs and to reduce the diversion of precursor chemicals and pill presses to drug cartels.

The two leaders welcomed the resumption of high-level military-to-military communication, as well as the U.S.-China Defense Policy Coordination Talks and the U.S.-China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings.  Both sides are also resuming telephone conversations between theater commanders.

The leaders affirmed the need to address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI safety through U.S.-China government talks.

The two leaders exchanged views on key regional and global challenges.  President Biden underscored the United States’ support for a free and open Indo-Pacific that is connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.  The President reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to defending our Indo-Pacific allies.  The President emphasized the United States’ enduring commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight, adherence to international law, maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula .

President Biden reaffirmed that the United States, alongside allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, to ensure Ukraine emerges from this war as a democratic, independent, sovereign, and prosperous nation that can deter and defend itself against future aggression.  Regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, the President reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism and emphasized the importance of all countries using their influence to prevent escalation and expansion of the conflict.

President Biden underscored the universality of human rights and the responsibility of all nations to respect their international human rights commitments. He raised concerns regarding PRC human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.  On Taiwan, President Biden emphasized that our one China policy has not changed and has been consistent across decades and administrations.  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 restraint in the PRC’s use of military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.  President Biden also raised continued concerns about the PRC’s unfair trade policies, non-market economic practices, and punitive actions against U.S. firms, which harm American workers and families.  The President emphasized that the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our own national security, without unduly limiting trade and investment. 

The President again emphasized that it remains a priority to resolve the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China.  

The two leaders reiterated the importance of ties between the people of the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and committed to work towards a significant further increase in scheduled passenger flights early next year, in parallel with actions to restore full implementation of the U.S.-China air transportation agreement, to support exchanges between the two countries. The two leaders also encouraged the expansion of educational, student, youth, cultural, sports, and business exchanges.

The two leaders underscored the importance of working together to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate crisis in this critical decade.  They welcomed recent positive discussions between their respective special envoys for climate, including on national actions to reduce emissions in the 2020s, on common approaches toward a successful COP 28, and on operationalizing the Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s to accelerate concrete climate actions. President Biden stated that the United States stands ready to work together with the PRC to address transnational challenges, such as health security and debt and climate finance in developing countries and emerging markets.

Building on the November 2022 meeting in Bali where they discussed the development of principles related to U.S. – China relations, the two leaders acknowledged the efforts of their respective teams to explore best practices for the relationship.  They 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 leaders welcomed continued discussions in this regard.

The two leaders agreed that their teams will follow-up on their discussions in San Francisco with continued high-level diplomacy and interactions, including visits in both directions and ongoing working-level consultations in key areas, including on commercial, economic, financial, Asia-Pacific, arms control and nonproliferation, maritime, export control enforcement, policy-planning, agriculture, and disability issues.

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.

We've detected unusual activity from your computer network

To continue, please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot.

Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy .

For inquiries related to this message please contact our support team and provide the reference ID below.

• My View My View
• Following Following
• Saved Saved

China's Xi in US for high-stakes Biden summit, APEC

• Medium Text

CONCERNS ABOUT A SHOWDOWN

Sign up here.

Reporting by Michael Martina, Ann Saphir, David Brunnstrom, Trevor Hunnicutt, David Lawder, Sayantani Ghosh and Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chris Reese, Josie Kao, Don Durfee and Lincoln Feast.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

World Chevron

Chinese Premier Li to meet business leaders in mineral-rich Western Australia

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet business leaders in Western Australia on Tuesday, and is expected to visit a lithium processing plant in the resource-rich state on the last day of his four-day visit to Australia.

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

History of Chichén Itzá written in DNA

Examining the duality of Israel

One way to help big groups of students? Volunteer tutors.

During his visit to the U.S., Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to meet with President Biden, their first face-to-face meeting in a year.

Alex Brandon/AP file photo

How big a deal is meeting between Biden, Xi? Pretty big

Christina Pazzanese

Harvard Staff Writer

Longtime China watcher Tony Saich says two nations want to stabilize ties a bit amid troubling levels of tension

China President Xi Jinping will be in San Francisco to speak with business leaders attending a gathering of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this week. It’s his first visit to the U.S. since a 2017 meeting with then-President Donald Trump at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida. On Wednesday, Xi is expected to sit down with President Biden for their first face-to-face meeting in a year.

Though not a formal state visit, it’s nevertheless a complicated, high-stakes sideline meeting given the deterioration of relations between the U.S. and China since January, when a spy balloon was discovered floating over the Western U.S. and Canada. Both nations have slapped trade tariffs and technology sanctions on each other and cut off communications between their respective militaries. There have been several recent near-misses in the Pacific involving the two nations’ armed forces.

The Gazette spoke with Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, about what to expect from this unofficial summit. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

GAZETTE:  Why is President Xi coming now and why this particular event?

SAICH:  There are two particular reasons. First, I think for him not to attend the APEC meetings would send a signal to many of the countries in the region that China really has turned inward. And it would also give the United States of America a prime opportunity to position itself as a leader across the APEC community given that this meeting is taking place in San Francisco.

Secondly, the domestic situation for Xi Jinping has also changed significantly. In March, Xi and the foreign minister were both highly critical of the United States of America and really saw the problems in the relationship as stemming from U.S. attitudes and U.S. practices. Now, if you fast-forward to when Senator Chuck Schumer was visiting [in October], we had comments from Xi Jinping that he can think of 1,000 reasons why the relationship should be better and couldn’t think of one why it should be worse.

Why that shift? I think there are two primary reasons. The first is that the Chinese economy is in trouble, and growth rates have slowed significantly. The rebound that was expected post-COVID hasn’t really maintained, and China really needs global engagement and investment to keep the economy moving forward. I think it was indicative that Xi Jinping wanted to meet first with business leaders before meeting with President Biden — that was nixed by the White House. It was clear that what he wanted was to try to use the business community, telling them China’s still open for business, to put pressure on Washington to back off on its restrictions of exports to China.

China has been taken aback by the strength of the West’s reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That has led to an unexpected isolation internationally for China, which it had not anticipated. So, there’s a lot of pressure on Xi Jinping to try to put a floor under the relationship.

“Things are as bad as I can remember since diplomatic relations were restored [in the late 1970s],” said Tony Saich. “Across the board, there’s disagreement on almost everything, with one possible exception of the challenge of climate change.”

Photo by Winston Tang

GAZETTE:  You first visited China as a student in 1976 and have a long connection to that nation. How strained are relations right now between the two countries?

SAICH:  Things are as bad as I can remember since diplomatic relations were restored [in the late 1970s]. And it cuts across a whole range of issues from security challenges, practices domestically in China, what China perceives as the United States’ efforts to constrain China’s development and its rise. Across the board, there’s disagreement on almost everything, with one possible exception of the challenge of climate change.

GAZETTE:  What does Xi want to accomplish with this visit and what issues will he focus on?

SAICH:  At one level, he’ll want to send the message that China is open for business, that he does still welcome American investment in China. Secondly, I think he wants to counteract what the administration calls “small yard, high fence.” And what it means by that is a limited restriction on export of semiconductors and those goods that might be used for geotechnology, i.e., for military use. So, I think he wants to push back on making sure that the restrictions of exports to China don’t increase the impact on other areas of the economy.

And then third, I think there’s going to be attempts for him to push back on what he sees as U.S. alliances within Asia that he sees as constraining China’s developments, trying to get some assurance from Washington about the attitude toward Taiwan. I don’t think he’s going to shift the needle significantly on Washington’s view, but at least get some encouraging comment that he can sell back home, along the lines of “President Biden said they’re not going to encourage independence. They’re completely opposed to it. And they will restrain any possible actions in that direction that anybody in Taiwan might consider.”

GAZETTE:  What does the U.S. hope to accomplish?

SAICH:  I think Washington has also realized that some level of a relationship has to be maintained. There are certain global challenges that are important to the U.S., not just climate change, but other things around oceans and public health issues, etc., which really can’t be resolved without engaging China in some way or another. So, at that level, perhaps what the White House is hoping is it will legitimize discussions between officials who are dealing more with the day-to-day operational aspects of the relationship.

Secondly, Washington really wants to revive military-to-military contacts, which were cut off after the wandering balloon across North America and also severely restricted after Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Washington sees some ability to communicate at the military level is extremely important.

And then, for U.S. domestic consumption, it will want to at least get to some decent agreements about a level playing field for the economy, while also showing that Washington still hasn’t forgotten questions around human rights issues and persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang, northwest China. One possible area for a joint comment might be with respect to cracking down on Chinese companies that produce and export the chemicals that make fentanyl.

GAZETTE:   There have been several near-misses, in the air and on the sea, between the U.S. and China military recently. The Biden administration hopes to re-establish military communications coming out of this meeting. How much of a positive would that be?

SAICH:  It’s a huge positive. In such a contested part of the world, where accidents could immediately spin out of control into a major conflagration, having no ability to communicate is a terrible situation. I heard from people, for example, with the balloon incident that no one was picking up the phone in Beijing. What we’ve seen historically, it takes a long time for the Chinese system to kick into responding to crises. So, some kind of mechanism for better communication to prevent the unforeseen expanding into a major conflict is really crucial. And I hope both sides can recognize that.

“It is quite clear that Xi Jinping consistently has believed that the American intention is to constrain China. He also believes that the West is in decline while China is rising, and this is China’s opportunity to exert greater influence in global affairs and global governance.”

GAZETTE:  Are there areas for Xi and Biden to find common ground?

SAICH:  What we have seen is climate change envoy John Kerry and envoy Xie Zhenhua, who covers the climate areas in China, have fairly consistently had a decent working relationship and seem to have moved the needle along. And that is important preceding the next COP meeting. There needs to be some alignment of interest between the U.S. and China. So that is one key area of importance where the two may be able to push ahead with agreements. That, at least, would be a good starting point.

GAZETTE:  Both the U.S. and China have stated their economic interdependence makes cooperation and open dialogue vital. Should the U.S. rely on anything China says or promises, especially given a New York Times report this week that, in meetings with his military, Xi has expressed the view that the relationship between the nations is a zero-sum game?

SAICH:  It’s not unusual for politicians to say one thing in public and then something else when they’re not in public. I don’t think the U.S. should rely on anything that is said either in private talks or what is said in public because we’ve seen China, across a range of issues, saying one thing, but acting differently.

Take the business arena, for example. China is talking up a positive business environment, but then you see the kinds of restrictions and investigations and closing down of information channels that have been happening domestically in China. This seems to undercut what is being said publicly.

It is quite clear that Xi Jinping consistently has believed that the American intention is to constrain China. He also believes that the West is in decline while China is rising, and this is China’s opportunity to exert greater influence in global affairs and global governance. Now, we might dispute that, but I think that certainly drives a lot of his real actions.

GAZETTE:  Xi met a few weeks ago with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last year, they famously proclaimed the close relationship between China and Russia had “no limits.” Any signs that’s changed at all?

SAICH:  I’m sure Washington is going to ask China to use any influence it may have on Putin to restrain the activities in the invasion of Ukraine. But consistently, it has continued to support Russia’s primary talking points, that the situation is created by the West, with the expansion of NATO, and thus it is, therefore, primarily a problem created by the United States of America.

I think Xi and Putin’s relationship is genuine, is very beneficial for Beijing. It’s quite clear Russia is now the junior partner. A weakened but not unstable Russia is extremely valuable to China in terms of oil, gas, and other raw materials it needs to build up its own strength for what it sees as the major problem, the long-term strained relationship and potential conflict with the U.S. The more the U.S. gets deflected from being able to focus on the pivot and turn back to building up capabilities in the Asia Pacific, the happier that will make Beijing.

GAZETTE:  Does China have a favorite candidate in the 2024 presidential election?

SAICH:  What I hear from people in China is that there is a preference for Donald Trump because they think that will be very chaotic and potentially detrimental for the U.S. — that’s their opinion.

They’ve been very disappointed with the Biden administration because they felt the administration might pull back from some of the measures President Trump brought in toward the end of his administration. They found, in many ways, that the Biden administration is probably tougher and more consistent and more coherent in its approach toward China. Both that it didn’t lift the tariffs that President Trump had brought in, that it’s brought in new restrictions around advanced semiconductor exports, and that it has really pushed hard to revitalize traditional alliances in the region.

Share this article

You might like.

Research using new method upends narrative on ritual sacrifices, yields discovery on resistance built to colonial-era epidemics

Expert in law, ethics traces history, increasing polarization, steps to bolster democratic process

Research finds low-cost, online program yields significant results

More than a planetary fender-bender

New study finds Earth collided with dense interstellar cloud, possibly affecting life on planet

Alzheimer’s disease indicators track with biological changes in brain, study finds

Researchers see self-reported memory loss may be early, preclinical warning

Testing fitness of aging brain

Most voters back cognitive exams for older politicians. What do they measure?

Advertisement

Supported by

Behind Public Assurances, Xi Jinping Has Spread Grim Views on U.S.

Speeches by the Chinese leader show how he was bracing for an intensifying rivalry with the United States from early in his rule.

• Share full article

By Chris Buckley

When President Xi Jinping of China made his first state visit to the United States in 2015, he wrapped his demands for respect in reassurances.

He courted tech executives , while defending China’s internet controls. He denied that China was militarizing the disputed South China Sea, while asserting its maritime claims there. He spoke hopefully of a “new model ” for great power relations, in which Beijing and Washington would coexist peacefully as equals.

But back in China, in meetings with the military, Mr. Xi was warning in strikingly stark terms that intensifying competition between a rising China and a long-dominant United States was all but unavoidable, and that the People’s Liberation Army should be prepared for a potential conflict.

In Mr. Xi’s telling, China sought to rise peacefully, but Western powers would not accept the idea that a Communist-led China was catching up and could someday overtake them in global primacy. The West would never stop trying to derail China’s ascent and topple its Communist Party, he said in speeches to the military that are largely unreported by the media.

“Beyond doubt, our country’s growing strength is the most important factor driving a profound readjustment of the international order,” he told top commanders in November 2015, two months after his visit to the United States. “Some Western countries absolutely never want to see a socialist China grow strong under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Despite his assurances to President Obama not to militarize the South China Sea, Mr. Xi told his senior commanders in February 2016 that China must bolster its presence there, saying: “We’ve seized the opportunity, eliminated intervention and sped up construction on South China Sea islands and shoals, achieving a historic breakthrough in maritime strategy and defending maritime rights.” (In the years that followed, China quickly expanded its military infrastructure in the area.)

Mr. Xi’s remarks are among collections of speeches that Mr. Xi made to the People’s Liberation Army and Communist Party officials, published by the military for internal study by senior officers, and seen and corroborated by The New York Times. The volumes, “Xi Jinping’s Selected Major Statements on National Defense and Military Development,” cover his initial years in power, from 2012 to February 2016.

The speeches offer a new, unvarnished view into the leader at the center of a superpower rivalry that is shaping the 21st century. They show how at times he has voiced an almost fatalistic conviction — even before Beijing’s ties with Washington took a steep dive later in the Trump administration — that China’s rise would prompt a backlash from Western rivals seeking to maintain their dominance.

“The faster we develop, the bigger the external shock will be, and the greater the strategic blowback,” Mr. Xi told Chinese Air Force officers in 2014.

In Mr. Xi’s worldview, the West has sought to subvert the Chinese Communist Party’s power at home and contain the country’s influence abroad. The Communist Party had to respond to these threats with iron-fisted rule and an ever-stronger People’s Liberation Army.

As Mr. Xi prepares to meet with President Biden in California this week, the question of how the two powers will manage their rivalry hangs over the relationship.

Mr. Xi has been trying to stabilize relations with Washington, apparently pressed by China’s economic troubles and a desire to reduce Beijing’s diplomatic isolation. “We have a thousand reasons to grow the relationship between China and the United States, and none at all to ruin it,” Mr. Xi told American lawmakers in Beijing recently.

But with mutual distrust running deep, any easing of antagonism between the two sides could be tenuous.

Mr. Xi underscored that his judgment of the challenge posed by the United States remains unchanged, saying with rare public bluntness in March: “Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-around containment, encirclement and suppression of China.”

Doubts About American Might

Mr. Xi’s views of the world and the United States bear the imprint of China’s turbulent years when he was preparing to assume power. China had grown quickly, but the reforms that boosted that growth had slowed, and official corruption was rampant. The security state had expanded, but so had protest and dissent.

As Mr. Xi emerged as the country’s leader-in-waiting in 2007 , some diplomats, experts and well-connected Communist Party veterans predicted that he would be a pragmatist who might restart China’s efforts toward economic liberalization. Some even saw in him a chance for political change after a long period of stagnation.

They cited Mr. Xi’s pedigree as the son of a revolutionary leader who had helped oversee China’s economic overhaul in the 1980s and the decades Mr. Xi had spent as an official in the commercial coastal provinces of eastern China, including 17 years in Fujian , where he courted investors from neighboring Taiwan. Li Rui, a retired senior official who had once served as Mao Zedong’s aide, recorded in his diary a conversation in 2007 about the relatively unknown Mr. Xi.

“I asked what Xi Jinping was like, and the answer was four words: ‘governing by doing nothing,’” Mr. Li wrote. “That would be good,” Mr. Li added, “letting everyone play to their strengths with less meddling.” (Mr. Li died in 2019; his diaries and correspondences are held by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.)

But Mr. Xi’s upbringing and family background left a more complex imprint than many assumed: He was, above all, proud of the party and the Communist revolution. And skepticism about American might and wariness about its intentions toward China were becoming more mainstream in Beijing as Mr. Xi prepared to take the reins of power.

The global financial crisis of 2007-08 had shattered official Chinese assumptions that Washington’s economic policymakers were competent, even if Beijing disagreed with them. Chinese officials quizzed American officials like Hank Paulson , then the Treasury secretary, about their mishandling of the situation. For many in Beijing, the lessons extended beyond the financial system.

“It was a defining moment,” said Desmond Shum, a businessman whose memoir, Red Roulette , describes those years, when he mingled with China’s political elite. “After that point, the entire Western model was questioned much more. There was also this growing belief that the world would need China to lead the way out of the mess.”

Specter of ‘Color Revolution’

As Mr. Xi prepared to become China’s leader, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was emerging as a model of an authoritarian strongman pushing back against American pre-eminence.

“These two men have a shared mental map of the world — not perfectly the same, but shared,” said Jude Blanchette , a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Both want to return their countries to a lost inheritance of greatness; both want to reclaim key territories; both have a shared sense of the trauma of the collapse of the Soviet Union.”

In particular, Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin, who met in 2010, shared a suspicion that the United States was bent on destabilizing its rivals by instigating insurrection in the name of democracy. Mr. Xi and other Chinese leaders adopted Mr. Putin’s conception of “color revolutions ” to describe such unrest.

In the mid-2000s, official Chinese fears of an eruption of anti-party protests did not seem so far-fetched. Flagrant corruption and official scandals had incensed many people. The internet opened up new channels for amplifying grievances.

Chinese Communist Party leaders have long sought to mobilize support by citing a miasma of external threats. Warnings of an American conspiracy to overthrow the party and transform China into a capitalist country by “peaceful evolution” go back to the Mao era. But Mr. Xi has evoked those warnings with distinct urgency.

“He’s somebody who spent years of his life lacking security and, as he said later, learning from his father about the fickleness of human relationships and power,” said Joseph Torigian, a research fellow at the Hoover History Lab at Stanford University who has examined Mr. Xi’s speeches to the military. “Now he becomes the named successor, and he’s looking around the world and seeing ‘color revolutions’ and United States meddling and, for him, it’s this idea that, ultimately, power is the last guarantor of security and strength.”

Mr. Xi saw lessons in the “Arab Spring” uprisings that had toppled corrupt authoritarian leaders across the Middle East. The overthrow of Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011, left a deep impression on Chinese leaders, who saw parallels with the 1989 pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, said John K. Culver , a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who followed Mr. Xi’s rise.

“What really scared them was Egypt, because Hosni Mubarak rose as an officer in the Egyptian military, and yet the military turned on him,” Mr. Culver said. Chinese leaders, he added, “saw that and asked themselves: ‘If Tiananmen Square happened today, would the army again save the party?’”

Xi’s Military Renovation

Within weeks of taking power in late 2012, Mr. Xi met with officials and sounded a warning: The collapse of the Soviet Union , he said, was a cautionary tale for China. It had fallen, he lamented, because its military had lost its nerve. He warned officials that China could suffer the same fate unless the party recovered its ideological backbone.

Months later, he issued an internal edict to roll back the influence of what he called Western ideas, such as the concept of universal human rights and the rule of law, in universities and the news media.

From his first presidential summit with Mr. Obama in 2013, Mr. Xi had shown himself to be a “much more assertive and confident leader” than his predecessor, Hu Jintao, setting aside his talking points to press his views, according to Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama.

“This was a guy who was not just the frontman of a party, he was his own man,” Mr. Rhodes said in an email.

Mr. Xi, who leads the military as chairman of the Central Military Commission, reserved some of his bluntest warnings about the West for his commanders.

“The ‘laws of the jungle’ of international competition have not changed,” he told military delegates to China’s national legislature in 2014. He pointed to the growing presence of American jets, ships and aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific region as evidence that the United States was seeking to contain China.

He also said that the pro-Western protests that were then sweeping across Ukraine were a warning for Beijing. “Some Western countries are fanning the flames there and secretly scheming to achieve their geopolitical goals there,” he said. “We must take heed of this lesson.”

To prepare for the threats Mr. Xi saw ahead, he said, China needed to urgently overhaul its military. From late 2015, he initiated a sweeping reorganization of the People’s Liberation Army, seeking to make it an integrated force capable of extending Chinese power abroad, especially through air, sea and space forces. His warnings about the West helped underscore the urgency of those changes.

“Speeches to people within the system are attempts to mobilize,” said Mr. Blanchette, the researcher in Washington. “You don’t do that by just saying that the world is getting a little bit complicated; you need a narrative that is going to allow you to smash vested interests to achieve change.”

Mr. Xi warned that the People’s Liberation Army was still dangerously backward, and could fall behind if it did not seek to innovate, particularly in upgrading its weaponry and command organization. In these speeches, Mr. Xi did not say that war was unavoidable. But he made clear that without a formidable military, China would not be able to assert its will.

“In international contestation, political operations are very important, but ultimately it comes down to whether you have strength and whether you can use that strength,” he told the commanders on the Central Military Commission in November 2015. “Relying on a silver tongue won’t work.”

Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting in Taipei.

Chris Buckley , the chief China correspondent for The Times, reports on China and Taiwan from Taipei, focused on politics, social change and security and military issues. More about Chris Buckley

Xi Jinping’s Visit to the United States: All Eyes on China’s New Leader

Subscribe to the china bulletin, jonathan d. pollack jonathan d. pollack nonresident senior fellow - foreign policy , center for asia policy studies , john l. thornton china center.

February 10, 2012

The impending visit of China’s Vice President Xi Jinping to the United States has prompted understandable speculation about Beijing’s incoming top leader. Only a handful of senior US officials have met with Xi to this point, and his meetings with President Obama, members of the Cabinet, the Congressional leadership and various forays on the public stage will no doubt furnish information and insight into Xi’s personality, possibly yielding clues about what to expect from Xi when he assumes the top position in the Chinese Communist Party late this year.

Xi takes power at a very unsettled moment within China, and his lead Party rank does not imply outright political dominance. The maneuvering over senior leadership posts, to be announced at the 18th Party congress late this year, has clearly intensified, and will require balancing disparate interests atop the system. Only days prior to Xi’s departure for the United States, Wang Lijun, a recently demoted aide of one of China’s most openly ambitious politicians, Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, was detained by internal security personnel following Wang’s highly unusual visit to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu. If Chinese officials wished to impart the impression of a seamless leadership transition, recent events convey nothing of the sort.

Discontent at a popular level is even more apparent. There is acute restiveness within China, with citizens increasingly pushing back against bureaucratic and corporate actions that exploit and disenfranchise local populations. Widespread protests against a host of festering issues, including corruption, pervasive income inequality, and a lack of official accountability, continue to mount. Disaffection among educated elites is also increasingly evident, with intellectuals voicing growing unhappiness over the failings of senior policymakers to demonstrate courage and creativity in the face of growing challenges at home and abroad.

Anxieties within the senior leadership clearly extend to U.S.-China relations. Though American officials will no doubt convey their desire for cooperation with China’s incoming leader, the Obama administration has undertaken a much more forceful defense of U.S. interests across the Asia-Pacific region, openly cultivating closer ties with many of China’s neighbors. At the same time, the administration expects tangible evidence of Chinese responsiveness across a wide range of economic, political, and security issues. Vice President Xi will no doubt reiterate his recent calls for stability in bilateral ties, premised on the expectation that both countries have much to lose if relations fester or deteriorate. But stability that papers over major policy differences (most notably, on economic issues) will buy little, and may make matters worse.

All eyes will be focused on China’s leader during his U.S. visit. But even as Xi will want to put his best foot forward, he cannot overstep his authority. A Chinese domestic audience will be equally or even more attentive to Xi’s performance as his American interlocutors. For the present he remains the leader in waiting and his power is far from fully consolidated. He will soon inherit a daunting policy agenda, at a time of greatly rising expectations within China and parallel American expectations that China begin to assume an international role commensurate with its increasing economic, political, and military weight. Will he impart to U.S. officials his determination to address the “trust deficit” that continues to inhibit the full development of bilateral relations? This question is not only for Vice President Xi to address. But his demeanor and behavior during his visit will undoubtedly shape impressions among U.S. officials and a larger public audience about the road ahead in Sino-American relations.

Foreign Policy Global Economy and Development

Asia & the Pacific China

John L. Thornton China Center

Sam Boocker, Alexander Conner, David Wessel

June 17, 2024

Aslı Aydıntaşbaş

June 7, 2024

Mireya Solís, Mathieu Duchâtel

June 3, 2024

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Balance transfer cards
• Cash back cards
• Rewards cards
• Travel cards
• Online checking
• High-yield savings
• Money market
• Home equity loan
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Options pit
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

China's Xi accused the US of trying to trick him into invading Taiwan, but said he won't take the bait, report says

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

Xi Jinping accused the US of trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, the Financial Times said.

The Chinese leader made the claim to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, per the FT.

One expert told BI it's a sign that China is "genuinely surprised" by the attitude of US officials.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, accused the US of trying to trick China into invading Taiwan but said his country wouldn't take the bait, the Financial Times reported , citing people familiar with the matter.

The FT said Xi made the accusation in April last year during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Xi has issued the same warning to officials in his own country, one person told the FT, but this is first known case of him making the claim to a foreign leader, the outlet said.

During the meeting, according to a press statement released at the time, Xi said Taiwan was at the "core" of China's interests, adding: "If anyone expects China to compromise and concede on the Taiwan question, they are having a pipe dream and would shoot themselves in the foot."

Xi's accusation against the US wasn't featured in the statement.

For decades, the US has adopted " strategic ambiguity " toward Taiwan, positioning itself as the country's most steadfast ally, while declining to explicitly say whether it would come to Taiwan's aid if China attacked.

But the mood in Washington, DC, seems to be shifting, with Congress showing itself more "overtly supportive of Taiwan than only a few years ago," Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider in November.

Last month, a US congressional delegation met with senior Taiwanese officials to discuss US-Taiwan relations a few days after China conducted military drills around the island.

During the visit, Rep. Andy Barr, a cochair of the Taiwan caucus in Congress, said there should be "no doubt" and "no skepticism" in the US, Taiwan, or anywhere else around "American resolve to maintain the status quo and peace in the Taiwan Strait," according to the Associated Press .

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the US would defend Taiwan.

Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, told BI that Xi's reported accusation is a sign that China is "genuinely surprised" and "shocked" by the US's more recent "aggressiveness."

"The US has plenty of public figures now talking of Taiwan like it is a new Ukraine, and some even saying it needs to be diplomatically recognized," Brown added.

Mike Pompeo , the secretary of state during the Trump administration, and John Bolton , a former national security advisor, are among those calling for such a measure.

This is a problem for China, Brown said, as it's "clearly a red line and one that it will need to do something about if it is crossed."

During a meeting in April, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken not to cross China's "red lines" on sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Brown, who served as first secretary at the UK Embassy in Beijing from 2000 to 2003, said that behind Xi's "complaint" was the hope that other Western allies "might just calm the US down."

Whether it will have any impact is another matter, he added.

Last week, Adm. Samuel Paparo, the top US admiral in the Pacific, told The Washington Post that the US could deploy thousands of drones if China invaded Taiwan, with the "unmanned hellscape" buying time for the US military to come to Taiwan's aid.

Correction: June 17, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of an analyst. It is Thompson, not Thomson.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Recommended Stories

France's kylian mbappé suffers broken nose in euro win over austria, reportedly won't have surgery.

Mbappé received a yellow card after attempting to return to the field from injury. His status moving forward at the European Championship is unclear.

You saw the surgeon general's proposal and want to read more about social media and health. Start here.

Dive deeper into how social media is impacting teens and young adults and what is being done about it.

Dodgers expect All-Star Mookie Betts to miss 6-8 weeks with fractured hand

Betts was hit in his hand with a 98 mph fastball on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy laments 'probably the toughest' day of his career at Pinehurst, taking time off ahead of British Open

McIlory congratulated U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and vowed resilience after a Sunday collapse at Pinehurst.

A sleep expert recommends this pillow for neck and back pain — and it's on sale

The spine-supporting Tempur-Pedic wonder helps shoppers wake up with 'no pain and no headaches,' and it comes in three sizes for a dreamy fit.

'Hard Knocks' will follow all 4 AFC North teams for its 2024 in-season edition

For the first time, HBO's "Hard Knocks" NFL docuseries will follow four teams during its in-season edition.

How much money should you keep in your checking account?

Every bank customer likely wonders: “How much money should I keep in my checking account?” And the answer might surprise you. Here’s how much you should really keep in a checking account.

NBA Finals: Kristaps Porzingis available for Boston Celtics in Game 5 vs. Dallas Mavericks

The Boston Celtics announced Kristaps Porzingis is good to go for Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks after missing Games 3 and 4 with a left leg injury.

Reese Witherspoon, 48, uses this glowy vitamin C oil — and it's nearly 50% off

The Biossance serum helps brighten skin, lock in moisture and improve firmness: 'Every woman over 50 should have this product on hand.'

'I can't imagine going camping without it': This popular hammock is down to $18

Designed in the USA, it comes with 9-foot straps.

The best face moisturizers of 2024, recommended by dermatologists and experts

These tried-and-true creams from brands including CosRx, CeraVe, LaRoche-Posay and Charlotte Tilbury will soothe all skin types.

Most Americans aren't eating an ideal diet, according to a new study. Here's how you can improve.

What does an ideal diet include? Nutritionists share tips to eat healthier.

College sports turning into NASCAR & championship winning rosters

On today's episode, Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and SI's Pat Forde react to news of the Big 12 exploring selling their naming rights to a corporate sponsor, discuss a formula for championship winning teams, check in on the College World Series jello shot competition, and hear about producer Joe's insane fantasy football punishment.

Netanyahu dissolves Israel's war Cabinet after key member resigns — what it means and what happens now

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet that managed the war in Gaza after a key member resigned last week. Here's what it means and what's next.

Apple Pay Later is dead, long live Affirm loans

Apple Pay Later is kaput. The company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday that it’s killing the service only two years after first announcing it at WWDC 2022.

Brandon Aiyuk on stalled negotiations with 49ers: 'They don't want me back'

Aiyuk has taken his contract negotiations to TikTok. Where do things stand between him and the 49ers?

Disney's 'Inside Out 2' delivers box office windfall in much needed win for Pixar

Disney's "Inside Out 2" far surpassed analyst expectations as the company attempts to revamp its box office strategy after multiple theatrical misses.

Stock market today: Stocks zoom higher as S&P 500 notches 30th record close of 2024

Wall Street wondered if the bull rally that has roared through 2024 has more room to run.

'My 40-year-old eyes need this': A magnifying travel mirror for $9? It's 40% off

The LED travel compact is sure to save the day in dimly lit bathrooms and hotels.

Dodgers place Mookie & Yamamoto on IL, umpire suspended & 2024 MLB Draft Combine preview with Nate Tice

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman talk about the injures to Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, umpire Pat Hoberg being suspended for gambling and all the other action from baseball this weekend. They also preview the 2024 MLB Draft Combine with Nate Tice.

China fires back at Biden for calling President Xi Jinping a dictator: 'Extremely absurd and irresponsible'

C hina responded Wednesday after President Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, criticizing the comment as "extremely absurd and irresponsible."

During a fundraiser in California Tuesday night, Biden said Xi was embarrassed after the U.S. Air Force shot down the Chinese spy balloon: "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn't know it was there. That’s a great embarrassment for dictators when they didn’t know what happened."

"The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible. It is a blatant political provocation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded at a daily briefing on Wednesday. "China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition."

Mao said Biden’s comments at the fundraiser "go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity."

CHINA 'EMBOLDENED' BY BLINKEN'S 'MISGUIDED' TRIP WHERE HE 'THREW TAIWAN UNDER THE BUS': EXPERTS

During the private campaign reception in Kentfield, Biden also emphasized cooperation with China and Xi, although he admitted: "It’s going to take time." 

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

BLINKEN SAYS US 'DOES NOT SUPPORT TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE' DURING CHINA VISIT

During the presser, Mao reiterated China's official position that the balloon was used for meteorological research before it accidentally blew off course.

CHINA IN HIGH-LEVEL TALKS FOR MILITARY TRAINING FACILITY IN CUBA TO STATION TROOPS OFF US SHORES: REPORT

"The U.S. should have handled it in a calm and professional manner," Mao stressed. "However, the U.S. distorted facts and used forces to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony."

The traded barbs come a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing, which included a meeting with Xi.

The diplomatic visit was intended to help ease tensions between the U.S. and China which have become strained amid contentions with Taiwan, the spy balloon and the discovery of a Chinese base in Cuba – marking a historical low in the relationship between the two global superpowers.

Blinken's visit did not appear to have achieved any material results.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

• Türkiye

Middle East

Asia - Pacific

• Infographics

Environment

Science-Technology

Company News

Finance Terminal

Anadolu Images

Energy Terminal

Discrimination Line

Fact Check Line

Corporate News

Xi said US trying to ‘goad Beijing’ into attacking Taiwan: Report

British daily financial times claims chinese president issued the warning in meeting with head of european commission in april 2023.

China’s President Xi Jinping told European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen that Washington was trying to “goad Beijing into attacking Taiwan,” the Financial Times said on Saturday.

In a report based on information from people familiar with the matter, the British daily said Xi issued the warning in a meeting with von der Leyen in April 2023. She paid an official visit to China last year which coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the daily, Xi said the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait.

The revelation comes as tensions are high across the Taiwan Strait. China responded to last month's inauguration of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan’s new president with military drills around the island, which it claims as its own. Taipei, however, insists on its independence since 1949.

Xi’s remarks are probably the first known case of him making the claim to a foreign leader.

The Chinese leader also said that a conflict with the US would undermine his goal of achieving a “great rejuvenation” by 2049.

US officials have, in recent years, increased engagement with Taiwan but the administration says it remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said the country’s military was ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan’s independence.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry said those supporting independence for Taiwan would find themselves “crushed.”

China wants to ‘eliminate’ Taiwan, says Lai

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te on Sunday accused China of seeing the "annexation" and "elimination" of the island nation as “its great national cause.”

Speaking in southern Kaohsiung city on the centennial celebrations of the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy, Lai said that currently, peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait not only attracts the attention of the international community, but “is also a necessary element for global security and prosperity.”

"The biggest challenge is to face the strong rise of China, destroying the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, and seeing the annexation of Taiwan and the elimination of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as the great rejuvenation of the national cause," he told the participants, according to a transcript issued by his office.

He asked Taiwanese soldiers that their “highest mission should be to defend and protect Taiwan and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

* Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this story from Islamabad

Related topics

Bu haberi paylaşın.

US concerned by 'deepening relationship' between Russia, N.Korea over Putin visit: White House

Turkish president urges global action against israeli 'bloodthirstiness' during eid al-adha, russia calls nato chief's nuclear weapons remarks 'escalation', china to add australia in visa waiver program, new zealand to provide another $5m to world food program, unicef for gaza, related news.

China retaliates against EU tariffs with anti-dumping probe

Taiwan hosts solidarity event to remember children killed in Gaza

Beijing says anti-Chinese vaccine campaign proves US spreads false information

Chinese coast guard 'searches' Philippines vessel in disputed waters

Heavy rains in China cause 9 deaths, 17 missing

Changing cookie preferences, your opinions matter to us.

• Newsletters

Chinese premier lands in Australia on first such visit in 7 years

Rod Mcguirk And Charlotte Graham-Mclay

Associated Press

Chinese Premier Li Qiang waves on his arrival at Adelaide Airport, Australia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Li is on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China's global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda during his four day visit to Australia. (Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Pool Photo via AP)

MELBOURNE – Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China’s global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda.

His visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s first journey to Australia since 2014.

Recommended Videos

Bilateral relations collapsed during Australia’s previous conservative administration’s almost decade in power, with Beijing imposing a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products which cost exporters billions of dollars.

This is the second stop of Li's tour after New Zealand , and will end in Malaysia.

Before leaving New Zealand, the premier told an audience in the city of Auckland on Saturday that his country was committed to creating a first-class business environment and supporting foreign enterprises to develop in China, according to Chinese state media.

Li said there was vast potential for China and New Zealand to collaborate in areas such as green development and that Beijing welcomed New Zealand enterprises, such as dairy company Fonterra, that seized such opportunities, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During the Australian leg of his travels which ends on Tuesday, China’s most powerful politician after Xi, is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo in the South Australia state capital where his Air China flight landed from Auckland.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas greeted Li on the Adelaide Airport tarmac.

Li will also visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in the Kwinana Beach industrial estate in Western Australia state, as well as Australia’s Parliament House in the national capital Canberra.

China initiated a reset of the relationship after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.

Relations with the previous administration collapsed over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out the national 5G network due to security concerns, and Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing imposed an array of official and unofficial trade blocks in 2020 on a range of Australian exports including coal, wine, barley and wood that cost up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.

All the trade bans have now been lifted except for Australian live lobster exports. Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted that impediment would also be lifted soon after Li’s visit with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

“I’d be very confident that the visit this week will result in a very successful outcome for lobster producers,” Farrell told reporters Wednesday.

Many observers expect Australia will be more cautious about its future economic relationship with China after being subjected to what many see as economic coercion in recent years.

Australian National University China expert Benjamin Herscovitch describes an “emerging expectations gap” between Beijing and Canberra.

“Beijing, now that the coercion campaign is over, wants to … turn the page and launch into a more expansive, more positive, more cooperative bilateral relationship,” Herscovitch said.

“Canberra’s saying: ‘Look. Hold on. We want the trade restrictions gone and we want high-level diplomacy restored. But we’re not interested in deeper science and technology cooperation with China because we see that potentially from an Australian point of view as a security threat,’” Herscovitch added.

Li intends to visit Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia’s processing plant south of the Western Australia capital Perth on Tuesday to underscore China’s interest in investing in critical minerals, news media have reported. The plant produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric vehicles.

Australia shares the United States' concerns over China’s dominance in the critical minerals, which are essential components in the world’s transition to renewable energy sources .

Citing Australia's national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company, Northern Minerals.

Less controversially, Li is expected to make a visit Sunday to Adelaide Zoo, which has been the home of China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper has reported Li will announce the pandas will be replaced by another breeding pair after they return to China in November.

While the bilateral economic relationship is recovering from plumbing new lows in recent years, the security relationship between the two free trading partners appears more tense.

An annual poll by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute foreign policy think tank released in June found 53% of Australian respondents saw China as more of a security threat than an economic partner.

Albanese has said he will raise with Li during an annual leaders’ meeting on Monday recent clashes between the two countries’ militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea which Australia argues endangered Australian personnel.

The premier spent three days in New Zealand, a free trade partner with which China has enjoyed a more harmonious relationship than it has with Australia. Li described China and New Zealand as "good friends.”

His next stop will be Malaysia, where bilateral relations are further complicated by competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Li on Saturday: “China is one of New Zealand’s most important and consequential relationships.”

Li used the trip to express concerns at New Zealand’s contemplation of joining a military technology-sharing arrangement under Australia’s AUKUS pact with the United States and Britain. The pact’s primary aim is to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

Graham-McLay contributed from Wellington, New Zealand.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines.

• Live In The D
• Newsletters

WEATHER ALERT

A severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Lenawee and Monroe Counties

Chinese premier promises more pandas and urges australia to put aside differences.

Rod Mcguirk

Associated Press

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Chinese Premier Li Qiang reacts during a visit to Adelaide Zoo, Australia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Li is on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China's global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda during his four day visit to Australia. (Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Pool Photo via AP)

MELBOURNE – Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday promised a new pair of giant pandas to a zoo and urged Australia to set aside its differences with Beijing at the outset of the first visit to the country by China's second-highest ranking leader in seven years.

China’s most powerful politician after President Xi Jinping arrived late Saturday in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia state, which has produced most of the Australian wine entering China since crippling tariffs were lifted in March that had effectively ended a 1.2 billion Australian dollar ($790 million) a year trade since 2020.

Recommended Videos

Li's trip has focused so far on the panda diplomacy, rebounding trade including wine and recovering diplomatic links after China initiated a reset of the relationship in 2022 that had all but collapsed during Australia's previous conservative administration’s nine years in power.

Relations tumbled over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out the national 5G network due to security concerns, and Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing imposed an array of official and unofficial trade blocks in 2020 on a range of Australian exports including coal, wine, beef, barley and wood that cost up to AU$20 billion ($13 billion) a year.

All the trade bans have now been lifted except for Australian live lobster exports. Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted that impediment would also be lifted soon after Li’s visit with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Li’s visit was the result of “two years of very deliberate, very patient work by this government to bring about a stabilization of the relationship and to work towards the removal of trade impediments.”

“We will cooperate where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will engage in our national interest,” Wong said before joining Li at Adelaide Zoo, which has been home to China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009.

Li announced that the zoo would be loaned another two pandas after the pair are due to return to China in November.

“China will soon provide another pair of pandas that are equally beautiful, lively, cute and younger to the Adelaide Zoo, and continue the cooperation on giant pandas between China and Australia,” Li said in Mandarin, adding that zoo staff would be invited to "pick a pair.”

Wong thanked Li for ensuring that pandas would remain the zoo's star attraction.

“It’s good for the economy, it’s good for South Australian jobs, it’s good for tourism, and it is a signal of goodwill, and we thank you,” Wong said.

Li's visit is the first to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years and marks an improvement in relations since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.

Li noted that Albanese in November was the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016.

“China-Australia relations were back on track after a period of twists and turns," Li said on arrival on Saturday, according to a translation released by the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Sunday. “History has proven that mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences and mutually beneficial cooperation are the valuable experience in growing China-Australia relations."

Hundreds of pro-China demonstrators, human rights protesters and democracy activists gathered outside the zoo before Li’s visit.

Among the protesters was former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui, who fled to Australia three years ago to avoid a prison sentence for his activism. He said the panda offer was a cynical move to soften China's image and to distract from the government's human rights failings.

“It's a public relations move by the Chinese regime and, disappointingly, the Australian government is reciprocating by welcoming him and shaking hands,” Hui said.

Hui said Li showed cowardice by entering the zoo by a rear entrance while most of the protesters and China supporters had gathered at the main entrance. But Hui and other protesters were able to shout slogans at Li from a distance inside the zoo.

Li’s agenda became more contentious after he left Adelaide and arrived in the national capital, Canberra, late Sunday for Parliament House meetings on Monday with Albanese and other political figures. Li will visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in resource-rich Western Australia state on Tuesday.

Albanese has said he will raise with Li recent clashes between the two countries’ militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea that Australia argues endangered Australian personnel.

Albanese will also raise the fate of China-born Australian democracy blogger Yang Hengjun, who was given a suspended death sentence by a Beijing court in February. Australia is also concerned for Hong Kong-Australia dual national Gordon Ng , who was among 14 pro-democracy activists convicted by a Hong Kong court last month for national security offenses.

Li’s visit to Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia’s processing plant south of the Western Australia capital of Perth will underscore China’s interest in investing in critical minerals. The plant produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric vehicles.

Australia shares U.S. concerns over China’s dominance in the critical minerals, which are essential components in the world’s transition to renewable energy sources.

Citing Australia’s national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company, Northern Minerals.

Asked if Chinese companies could invest in processing critical minerals in Australia, Wong replied that Australia’s foreign investment framework was “open to all.”

“We want to grow our critical minerals industry,” Wong said.

Australia is the second stop of Li’s tour after New Zealand , and will end in Malaysia.

AP video producer Caroline Chen and writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines.

• Getting Results.
• Newsletters

Chinese premier lands in Australia on first such visit in 7 years

Rod Mcguirk And Charlotte Graham-Mclay

Associated Press

Chinese Premier Li Qiang waves on his arrival at Adelaide Airport, Australia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. Li is on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China's global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda during his four day visit to Australia. (Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Pool Photo via AP)

MELBOURNE – Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China’s global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda.

His visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s first journey to Australia since 2014.

Recommended Videos

Bilateral relations collapsed during Australia’s previous conservative administration’s almost decade in power, with Beijing imposing a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products which cost exporters billions of dollars.

This is the second stop of Li's tour after New Zealand , and will end in Malaysia.

Before leaving New Zealand, the premier told an audience in the city of Auckland on Saturday that his country was committed to creating a first-class business environment and supporting foreign enterprises to develop in China, according to Chinese state media.

Li said there was vast potential for China and New Zealand to collaborate in areas such as green development and that Beijing welcomed New Zealand enterprises, such as dairy company Fonterra, that seized such opportunities, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During the Australian leg of his travels which ends on Tuesday, China’s most powerful politician after Xi, is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo in the South Australia state capital where his Air China flight landed from Auckland.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas greeted Li on the Adelaide Airport tarmac.

Li will also visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in the Kwinana Beach industrial estate in Western Australia state, as well as Australia’s Parliament House in the national capital Canberra.

China initiated a reset of the relationship after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.

Relations with the previous administration collapsed over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out the national 5G network due to security concerns, and Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing imposed an array of official and unofficial trade blocks in 2020 on a range of Australian exports including coal, wine, barley and wood that cost up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.

All the trade bans have now been lifted except for Australian live lobster exports. Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted that impediment would also be lifted soon after Li’s visit with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

“I’d be very confident that the visit this week will result in a very successful outcome for lobster producers,” Farrell told reporters Wednesday.

Many observers expect Australia will be more cautious about its future economic relationship with China after being subjected to what many see as economic coercion in recent years.

Australian National University China expert Benjamin Herscovitch describes an “emerging expectations gap” between Beijing and Canberra.

“Beijing, now that the coercion campaign is over, wants to … turn the page and launch into a more expansive, more positive, more cooperative bilateral relationship,” Herscovitch said.

“Canberra’s saying: ‘Look. Hold on. We want the trade restrictions gone and we want high-level diplomacy restored. But we’re not interested in deeper science and technology cooperation with China because we see that potentially from an Australian point of view as a security threat,’” Herscovitch added.

Li intends to visit Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia’s processing plant south of the Western Australia capital Perth on Tuesday to underscore China’s interest in investing in critical minerals, news media have reported. The plant produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric vehicles.

Australia shares the United States' concerns over China’s dominance in the critical minerals, which are essential components in the world’s transition to renewable energy sources .

Citing Australia's national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company, Northern Minerals.

Less controversially, Li is expected to make a visit Sunday to Adelaide Zoo, which has been the home of China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper has reported Li will announce the pandas will be replaced by another breeding pair after they return to China in November.

While the bilateral economic relationship is recovering from plumbing new lows in recent years, the security relationship between the two free trading partners appears more tense.

An annual poll by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute foreign policy think tank released in June found 53% of Australian respondents saw China as more of a security threat than an economic partner.

Albanese has said he will raise with Li during an annual leaders’ meeting on Monday recent clashes between the two countries’ militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea which Australia argues endangered Australian personnel.

The premier spent three days in New Zealand, a free trade partner with which China has enjoyed a more harmonious relationship than it has with Australia. Li described China and New Zealand as "good friends.”

His next stop will be Malaysia, where bilateral relations are further complicated by competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Li on Saturday: “China is one of New Zealand’s most important and consequential relationships.”

Li used the trip to express concerns at New Zealand’s contemplation of joining a military technology-sharing arrangement under Australia’s AUKUS pact with the United States and Britain. The pact’s primary aim is to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

Graham-McLay contributed from Wellington, New Zealand.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.