Biden and Xi talk past each other in San Francisco

The much anticipated face-to-face

meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping

finally took place at a grand villa outside San Francisco on Nov 15. After four hours of talks, both leaders emerged with news of a clutch of token bilateral agreements, including resumption of military-to-military communications and anti-narcotics cooperation.

That Mr Biden and Mr Xi met at all was a source of relief to many, given the wider implications of increasingly acrimonious United States-China ties. The talks also gave both leaders a chance to bolster their statesmanship credentials for their respective home audiences. But on the big geopolitical issues, Mr Biden and Mr Xi mostly talked past each other, leaving US-China relations in a state of vulnerability to a deeper crisis.