By Jarrett Renshaw, Lucinda Elliott, Eduardo Baptista and Trevor Hunnicutt
LIMA (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Saturday to work with the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on conflicts ranging from cybercrime to trade, Taiwan , the South China Sea and Russia.
Biden met with Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months.
“China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged” after Trump’s election, Xi said during his meeting with Biden, acknowledging “the ups and downs” between the countries. “China is willing to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences.”
Biden told Xi that the two leaders did not always agree but that their discussions have been “frank” and “sincere.”
Two months before Trump returns to the White House, US officials see magnified risks of conflict during the transition. Biden told Xi that holding leaders-to-leadership talks would be vital even after he leaves office, said Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
The president-elect has promised to adopt sweeping 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods as part of an “America First” package of trade measures. Beijing opposes these measures. The Republican also plans to hire several tough voices on China in senior positions, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Rep. Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Biden has sought to reduce tensions with China and there were few signs of progress on major issues.
But Biden and Xi did agree that humans, not artificial intelligence, should make decisions about the use of nuclear weapons, according to the White House, the first time the countries are known to have raised the issue.
The presidents of the United States and China also spoke about North Korea, a Chinese ally whose deepening ties with Russia and deployment of troops in Moscow’s war with Ukraine have raised concern in Washington, Beijing and European capitals.
“President Biden noted that the publicly stated position (of the People’s Republic of China) regarding the war in Ukraine is that there should be no escalation or expansion of the conflict, and the introduction of troops (of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) goes directly against that,” Sullivan said.
“He also noted that the PRC has influence and capabilities, and should use them to try to prevent further escalation or expansion of the conflict with the introduction of even more DPRK forces.”
MAIN ISSUES
Other major issues raised at the meeting included a recent China-linked hack of U.S. government and presidential campaign officials’ telephone communications, Beijing’s intensifying pressure on Taiwan and in the South China Sea, as well as Chinese support for Russia. Biden also raised the cases of Americans he believes are unfairly detained in China.
On Taiwan, the leaders appear to have had a strong exchange. Biden called for an end to Beijing’s “destabilizing” military activity on the island, the White House said.
Xi said Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s “‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities” were incompatible with peace and stability there, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Lai plans to stop in the US state of Hawaii and perhaps Guam in a sensitive visit that is sure to anger Beijing in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on Friday.
Former Taiwan Economy Minister Lin Hsin-i met Biden at the summit on Friday and invited him to visit Taiwan in the near future.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory. The United States is Taiwan’s most important international sponsor and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic recognition. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
At the same time, Beijing’s economy is taking a hit from Biden’s trade measures, including a plan to restrict U.S. investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and Chinese semiconductors, and restrictions on the export of Chinese computer chips. high end. Biden has described those measures as necessary for U.S. national security reasons and has said they do not impede most trade.
During the meeting, Xi said no evidence supported the claim of Chinese involvement in cyberattacks, according to Chinese state media. He also told Biden that Washington should not get involved in the disputes in the Spratly Islands, the subject of a dispute between China and the Philippines, a US ally.
Beijing rejected a 2016 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which said its sweeping maritime claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis, in a case brought by Manila.
“When the two countries treat each other as partners and friends, seek common ground while putting aside differences and help each other succeed, our relationship will achieve considerable progress,” Xi told Biden through an interpreter. “But if we consider ourselves rivals or adversaries, pursue fierce competition, and try to hurt each other, we will disrupt the relationship or even delay it.”
The two leaders also reflected privately on the frank dynamic of their long relationship, said Sullivan, the US national security adviser.
Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, said China wants to ease tensions during the transition period. “China definitely does not want relations with the United States to be affected before Trump formally takes office,” Shen said.
Pacific Rim leaders meeting at the APEC summit are assessing the implications of Trump’s return to power on January 20. The South American summit offers new signs of the challenges to US power in its own backyard, where China is on a charm offensive. .
Xi, who arrived in Lima on Thursday, plans a week-long diplomatic campaign in Latin America that includes a renewed free trade agreement with Peru, the inauguration of the huge Chancay deepwater port there and the welcome in the capital of Brazil next week for a state. visit. China also announced plans to host the APEC summit in 2026.
China is seeking metal minerals, soybeans and other raw materials from Latin America, but U.S. officials are concerned they may also be seeking new military and intelligence outposts adjacent to the United States. Chinese state-backed media has called those accusations defamation.