1 of 2 | President Joe Biden speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Friday in Lima. Biden conferred with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for the final time as president on Saturday in a bilateral meeting as the specter of Donald Trump’s return to the White House loomed large. Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE
Nov. 16 (UPI) — Joe Biden met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met for the final time as president Saturday in Peru as the specter of Donald Trump‘s return to the White House took center stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The two leaders met at the Delfines Hotel and Convention Center in Lima with an American contingent that included Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Prior to the meeting, Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden is leaving the White House with the United States holding “a very strong strategic position” in the Asia-Pacific region and that the president is “very much looking forward to the opportunity to engage with leaders from across the region” as he wraps up his tenure.
The meeting with Xi, Sullivan said, would be “an important opportunity to mark the progress that we’ve made in the relationship and also to manage it through this delicate period of transition where we want to maintain a degree of stability, even as we continue to compete vigorously with the PRC.
“We need to manage that competition so it doesn’t veer into conflict.”
Both leaders voiced those themes in short remarks before entering into their private meeting, and while neither mentioned Trump by name, it was apparent from their remarks he would play a central role in their discussion.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly attacked China as an unfair trading partner and promised to levy unprecedented import tariffs on Beijing. His announced Cabinet choices include notable hardliners on China, such as John Ratcliffe to head the CIA, Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense and Michael Waltz as national security adviser.
After the two leaders greeted each other and shook hands outside of the meeting room, Biden ignored question about how the two nations would address North Korea and how he would advise Xi on working with his successor while the Chinese leader similarly brushed off a question about Trump.
“The United States has recently concluded its elections,” Xi told Biden during his opening remarks. “China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged.
“China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” he added.
Xi said that while relations between Beijing and Washington have had their “ups and downs” during his and Biden’s tenures, “the two sides have also been engaged in fruitful dialogue and cooperation and the relationship has been kept stable.”
The Chinese leader said the two nations should avoid treating each other as rivals or adversaries and forego “vicious competition.”
“Humanity is faced with unprecedented challenges,” Xi said. “Major country competition should not be the underlying logic of the times. Only solidarity and cooperation can help humanity overcome current difficulties. Only mutually beneficial cooperation can lead to common development.”
Biden responded by saying he is “very proud of the progress we both made together,” citing military-to-military communication at multiple levels allowing leaders to “talk to one another on a regular basis.”
He also cited cooperation on artificial intelligence and counternarcotics efforts, saying, “In my country, Mr. President, overdose deaths are coming down for the first time in five years.”
Biden closed by saying while the two leaders haven’t always agreed, “our conversations have always been candid and always been frank. We have never kidded one another. We’ve been level with one another. And I think that’s vital.”