G20: Biden wants to set “red lines” during his face-to-face with Xi


The pair have a relationship that dates back more than a decade to when Joe Biden was vice president, but on Monday they will meet face-to-face for the first time in their current roles.

Joe Biden warned on Sunday that he intended to set “red linesin the tense relations between the United States and Beijing during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a prelude to a G20 summit which promises to be marked by deep divisions.

The Democratic President landed on the Indonesian island of Bali on the evening of Sunday, November 13 aboard Air Force One for the meeting of leaders of the summits of major world economies on Tuesday and Wednesday, after taking part in the summit of the Association of Nations from Southeast Asia to Phnom Penh. The US president said he was approaching Monday’s meeting “reinforcedafter the Democratic Party’s unexpected success in the midterm elections. Xi Jinping arrived in Bali on Monday (November 14, 2022) for his second overseas trip since the start of the pandemic, after a visit to Central Asia in September.

The two men have no shortage of subjects to debate, Washington and Beijing being at loggerheads on issues ranging from trade to human rights in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, passing by the status of Taiwan. “I know Xi Jinping, he knows me“, he added, saying that they always had “frank discussions“. The pair have a relationship that dates back more than a decade to when Joe Biden was vice president, but on Monday they will meet face-to-face for the first time in their current roles.

We have very few misunderstandings. We just need to figure out what the red lines are“, advanced the American president. His national security adviser Jake Sullivan assured that Joe Biden hoped for exchanges “direct“but also find subjects of”cooperation on substantive issues“. “The United States is ready for fierce competition with China but does not seek confrontation“, he explained to reporters aboard Air Force One.

According to the Maison Banche, Joe Biden will urge Beijing to use its influence to moderate North Korea, which has just carried out a record series of missile launches, seeming to be preparing to conduct the 7th nuclear test in its history. Ryan Hass, former China official for the US National Security Council, said the Chinese president “shouldn’t be so accommodating to Biden“, than with German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz during a recent meeting, so as not to be seen as “acceding to his demands on Ukraine, nuclear, or North Korea“.

China is Pyongyang’s main ally and US officials say that while Joe Biden will not make demands, he will warn Xi Jinping that continuing the missile and nuclear program would mean the US will increase its military presence in the country. the region, which Beijing fiercely opposes. Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol “reaffirm that a nuclear test by North Korea will be followed by a strong and firm response from the international community“, they warned in a joint statement after a trilateral meeting.

SEE ALSO — Joe Biden on China: ‘I told them I was looking for competition, not conflict’

Poutine conspicuously absent

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to go to the G20 summit, officially for agenda issues, but his absence is seen as a sign of isolation in the midst of military intervention in Ukraine. He sent his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead, who arrived in Bali on Sunday evening. The nearly nine-month-long Russian offensive in Ukraine has made Vladimir Putin’s trip difficult and politically risky. While war is not officially on the summit’s menu, it is high on the agenda of world leaders because of its impact on food and energy markets.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the G20 to focus on the economic issues behind the creation of this format bringing together the world’s major economies rather than on security issues that fall within the purview of the UN.

Unlikely release

Russia is expected to be under pressure to extend a deal allowing the export of grain and fertilizer through Black Sea ports, which expires on November 19. At a minimum, Joe Biden and his allies want to get a clear message from the G20 to Vladimir Putin that a nuclear conflict is unacceptable. But even on this subject, the rapprochement between China and Russia could make a common message with Westerners unattainable.

The host country of the G20, Indonesia, has done everything to preserve the balance, not wanting to favor either China or the United States and has resisted Western pressure asking it to exclude Russia. But Jakarta is not optimistic about the chances of an agreement leading to a common text at the end of the summit. “Honestly, I think the international situation has never been so complexsaid Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Investments and Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on the eve of the summit. “If in the end the G20 leaders do not produce a press release, that’s the situation, it’s OK“.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will claima G20 commitment not to use food production and distribution for war purposes“, according to Downing Street.


SEE ALSO – ASEAN summit: Joe Biden’s new slip that confuses Cambodia and Colombia



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