Biden-Xi summit to take place on Wednesday; Israel-Hamas war, economic ties on agenda

WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping face to face for the first time in a year on Wednesday, according to senior US officials, for high-stakes diplomacy aimed at curbing tensions between the world’s two superpowers.

The closely watched interaction, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the San Francisco Bay Area, could last hours and involve teams of officials from Beijing and Washington.

It is expected to cover global issues from the Israel-Hamas war to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s ties with Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, human rights, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, and “fair” trade and economic relations, the officials said.

“Nothing will be held back; everything is on the table,” a senior Biden administration official, who declined to be named, told reporters. “We’re clear-eyed about this. We know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed. But we expect China to be around and to be a major player on the world stage for the rest of our lifetimes.”

On Friday, the White House confirmed the day of the meeting in a statement, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Mr Xi would visit the US from next Tuesday to Friday, attend the Apec summit and meet Mr Biden.

US officials, who have been pushing for the meeting for the better part of a year, believe Beijing has been actively working to undermine US policy around the world.

Mr Biden and Mr Xi will speak across oceans of ideological difference for the first time since November 2022.

The US President’s team engineered a diplomatic blitz to repair hostile relations after Mr Biden ordered the

shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon

that transited US skies in February.

A main result is expected to be greater diplomacy – promises to talk more on key issues, including climate, global health, economic stability, counter-narcotic efforts, and potentially the resumption of some military-to-military channels after a high-level freeze.

Both sides may make modest gestures of goodwill to ease talks, according to two other people briefed on the discussions. But deep progress will be hard to come by.

Both countries increasingly regard themselves as

locked in a direct competition to secure a military edge,

corner the 21st-century economy and win the affections of second-tier countries, US and Chinese officials say.

Efforts to carefully choreograph Mr Xi’s visit may be upended in the restive Northern California city, which has a long history of left-wing protest and agitation.

Mr Biden and Mr Xi have known each other for more than a decade and shared hours of conversation over six interactions since Mr Biden’s 2021 inauguration.

But both men come to the table with mutual suspicion, grievances and garbled impressions of what the other is seeking, analysts say.

Among other sensitive topics, Mr Biden is expected to raise Chinese “influence operations” in foreign elections and the status of US citizens that Washington believes are wrongly detained in China.

Mr Biden, 80, presides over an economy that has outperformed expectations and most rich nations after the Covid-19 pandemic. Unpopular with voters at home, he is seeking a second term in office amid concerns about the stability of US democracy.

Nonetheless, he has corralled the nation’s traditional allies from Europe to Asia to confront Russia in Ukraine, although some have differences over the Israel-Hamas war.

Washington’s long alliances, from Nato to

the defence treaties in the Pacific,

are not so quietly being summoned in Asia to deter a conflict with China.

Mr Xi, a decade Mr Biden’s junior, has become the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, after tightening control over policy, state leaders, the media and military, as well as changing the Constitution.

Recently, compounding economic challenges have thrown the country off its three-decade, rocket-propelled growth trajectory.

Diplomats in Washington expect Beijing to test the US in the coming weeks, taking advantage of the US’ perceived shift in focus on Ukraine and Israel, as it pursues its own ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

Mr Biden is expected to tell Mr Xi that US commitments in the Indo-Pacific are unchanged.

China has worried its neighbours in recent years with steps in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea and East China Sea – areas of international dispute.

Mr Biden will express a specific commitment to the security of the Philippines, one of the US officials said. He is also expected to press Mr Xi to impress on Iran that it would be unwise to try to expand the conflict in the Middle East, the official said. REUTERS