Cold war, hot war and global warming. Much will be about temperatures when the world’s most powerful leaders – minus Vladimir Putin – start a triathlon of meetings in Asia. What undoubtedly gets the most attention is today’s meeting between China’s leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. The meeting between the two was less prepared and more open than usual. It was confirmed just days before the two set off for Southeast Asia. Thus, Beijing and Washington’s diplomats have had little time to exchange scripts or negotiate in advance. In their opening remarks, Biden and Xi emphasized the importance of seeing each other face to face. Biden said he wants to have an open line of communication with Xi both personally, but also between the governments. – The world expects us to play a role in matters such as climate and food security, said Biden. Xi did not deny that relations between the US and China are in a demanding phase. – The world is at a crossroads. Where we go next is a question not only on our minds, but on the minds of the whole world, Xi said. US President Joe Biden brought, among other things, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (right) and Finance Minister Janet Yellen (right) at the meeting with China’s president. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP Biden, Xi and the rest It is the first time the two have met face to face as presidents. Due to the pandemic, previous conversations have been on video. The last time they met was in 2017. By then, Xi had ruled China for five years, and Biden was about to step down as vice president after Trump’s victory in the election the previous autumn. Both come to Bali strengthened. Biden’s party avoided a shellacking in the by-elections and Donald Trump seems worse positioned to return as US president than previously thought. A few weeks ago, Xi secured a third term as China’s supreme leader and has installed a top leadership in the country that consists exclusively of his own men. This probably means that both Xi and Biden consider it so that much of world politics in the coming years will be about the two of them. – I think that we understand each other, said Biden afterwards. Chinese President Xi Jinping during the high-profile meeting. He emphasized that China and the US have many common interests, even if they still disagree on things. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP Hong Kong, Taiwan and North Korea The meeting lasted three hours. An hour longer than the time originally set. According to a statement from the White House, Biden addressed the conditions for democracy in Hong Kong, the human rights situation in Tibet and in the Muslim region of Xinjiang. Biden is also said to have said that China’s aggressive actions towards Taiwan threaten the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. In addition, Biden is said to have asked China to use its influence vis-à-vis North Korea to make the country behave responsibly. China is not in the habit of releasing such detailed information from its meetings. But according to the state news agency Xinhua, Xi warned Biden against crossing what China considers its “red line” when it comes to Taiwan. – Anyone who tries to separate Taiwan from China violates the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. The Chinese people will absolutely not let that happen, Xi said, according to the minutes. There were masks and a good distance when the American and Chinese delegations met. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP Just cool or “new cold war”? A concrete result of today’s meeting is that US Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken will visit China. It has been four years since the last time an American foreign minister was in the country, on a quick visit. Thus, Biden’s relatively modest goal may have already been achieved: to create a space for dialogue with a China they have defined as their biggest geopolitical challenger and strategic rival. – I firmly believe that there is no need for a new cold war with China, stated Biden. Xi may also have no greater ambitions than not to close cooperation with the United States in areas where they ultimately have common interests. – China has no intention of challenging the United States. Under the current circumstances, China and the United States have more common interests, not fewer, Xi stressed. On November 15 last year, Xi and Biden had one of their meetings on video. Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / Reuters Perhaps it is not that much that is needed? Today, the fronts are harder and the tone colder than 10–12 years ago. In October, the US tightened its sanctions policy. It makes it almost impossible for China to import the smallest and most advanced computer chips, which the country is not currently self-sufficient in. These are data chips that Chinese technology companies need to compete. China needs them to take new steps militarily. China repeats time and time again that the US imposes its values on others and tries to maintain its dominance in the world under the guise of being a democracy. Climate was an area where China and the US spoke well after Biden won the presidential election two years ago. But when Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on an Airforce One flight in August, Beijing shelved planned climate dialogue meetings with the United States. A positive signal just before the Bali meeting is that the two countries’ climate envoys spoke again during the COP27 climate summit, which is now taking place in Egypt. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives at the international airport in Bali. Before the G20 meeting, he managed a trip to Beijing and a meeting with President Xi Jinping. Photo: POOL / Reuters A common red line in Ukraine? When Germany’s head of government, Olaf Scholz, as the first G7 leader after the outbreak of the pandemic, visited Beijing a little over a week ago, Ukraine was the topic. Both Xi and Scholz said the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine is unacceptable. Xi and Biden followed up today. They agree that a nuclear war must never happen and cannot be won. Both expressed opposition to threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. China has not wanted to condemn Russia’s invasion, but this red line from Beijing limits Putin’s room to threaten nuclear weapons, also rhetorically. It is something Emmanuel Macron can build on when the French president will also have his own talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20. Among ordinary Chinese, there is a real fear that the war in Ukraine could develop into a nuclear war. A man and woman in Balinese clothing pass a G20 sign in Bali. The theme of the G20 meeting is rebuilding the world economy after the pandemic. Photo: Firdia Lisnawati / AP Triathlon of meetings The G20 is a forum for the world’s 20 largest economies. Before the G20, Biden visited the Asean meeting in Cambodia. Asean is a kind of European Union for the countries of Southeast Asia. After the G20, Xi travels to the Apec meeting in Bangkok. APEC is an organization for cooperation between countries in Asia and around the Pacific Ocean. In Bangkok, Vice President Kamala Harris is running for the United States. Ahead of the visit, Beijing has raised the importance of Xi’s Asia tour. State-controlled Chinese media write that the meetings fuel expectations that China will play a greater role in world politics. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Bali well in advance of the G20 meeting. He will also have a meeting with the President of China. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP The unwilling world politician A political joker is the host of the G20 meeting. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had long hoped to bring the world’s three most powerful individual leaders to Bali. Not only did he personally travel to Moscow and Beijing to invite Putin and Xi, but he also took the train from Poland to Kyiv, through war-torn Ukraine, to invite Volodymyr Zelenskyj. Not the most typical trip for an Indonesian president. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is hosting the G20 meeting in Bali. Photo: Aaron Favila / AP Now the G20 in Bali is probably not the place where a peace in Ukraine can be negotiated. Putin sends his loyal foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to the tropical island. Instead, Widodo is now trying to achieve something else which, seen from Indonesia, is perhaps more important: Bringing to light how the war affects third countries that do not feel the same closeness to the war as they do in Europe. It is about grain and food security. It is about rising prices that hit the world’s poor harder than anyone else. In addition, he will use the last days of the G20 chairmanship to highlight two issues that end up in the shadow of war and the power struggle between the US and China: The civil war in Myanmar, which has increased in intensity after the coup in 2021 Debt relief for poor countries The West and the World Bank are no longer creditors alone. China and India are now also important lenders with unpaid debts in countries that are struggling. From the days of the Cold War, Indonesia has a history as part of the “Movement of Non-Aligned Countries”. The movement’s first meeting was held in Bandung in 1955. For eight years, “Jokowi” – as he is called at home – has ruled Indonesia, without being particularly noticed on the world stage. He leads the world’s most populous Muslim country. He leads a country with high economic growth. Despite this, he has not expressed any major international ambitions. A helping hand? US President Joe Biden, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on stage during the Asean meeting in Cambodia. Photo: CINDY LIU / Reuters When he recently gave an interview to the Financial Times, he posed in a simple white shirt, black trousers and trainers made in Indonesia. When he was younger, Widodo ran a furniture workshop in a small town. Many have noticed his efforts ahead of the upcoming G20 meeting. A slightly above-average successful meeting in a world that does not expect anything big can lift “Jokowi” onto the global stage. If it is ever so reluctant. Some may also welcome a stronger voice from the “Movement of Non-Aligned Nations”, in a world where both new and old powerful states are not on speaking terms.
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G20 in Bali: Biden and Xi met for the first time since 2017 – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
