Setting a floor to US-China ties

Perhaps the most important thing about the summit between United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was that after months of planning, the meeting actually did take place. Despite low expectations, it has produced some useful results – direct military-to-military contacts will resume, and there were agreements to discuss potential risks of artificial intelligence, and cooperation on climate change. Also, China will help curb the flow of fentanyl feeding the US opioid crisis. Mr Xi will probably get a minor domestic boost from visuals of being treated as an equal by the leader of the pre-eminent superpower.

Mr Biden described his talks with Mr Xi as “most constructive and most productive”. Should both sides act in good faith hereafter, these outcomes can help keep US-China tensions from getting out of control amid several looming trigger points that could cause ties to deteriorate, not least of which is Taiwan’s presidential election. So low are the hopes for a broader improvement of ties; after all, the US has made clear in word and deed that its intention is to put “guard rails” on the relationship. There is also no indication yet that Mr Xi succeeded in persuading Mr Biden to end America’s high-technology squeeze on China. The slide in Chinese stocks soon after the summit underscores the broad sentiment that major changes in the relationship are unlikely. As Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, US-China ties are not amenable to quick fixes.