President Joe Biden will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Peru this Saturday for the last of three face-to-face meetings between the leaders during the US president’s term, according to senior administration officials.
Both leaders will be in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The last time they met in person was a year ago, at the same summit, when Biden received Xi outside San Francisco.
With the end of his term approaching, Biden will have his power significantly reduced as he sits face to face with Xi, while the Chinese leader is likely already focused on dealing with Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
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Trump, in his second term in the White House, has threatened to escalate his trade war against China, with plans to impose high tariffs on all imports from the country.
Senior Biden administration officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the impending meeting, declined to comment when asked whether the US president planned to mention Trump or his proposed policies in his conversation with Xi. They also referred any questions about whether the new president and his aides have received — or requested — confidential intelligence reports on China to the Trump transition team.
Unlike the Biden-Xi meeting in 2023, the focus this time will be less on delivering results or advancing the achievements already made. Biden is expected to use his latest face-to-face meeting as an opportunity to highlight issues of concern.
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Among these issues is China’s continued support for Russia’s defense industrial base, which a senior official says is unlikely to cease and will therefore be an issue that will occupy the new administration as well.
Still, Biden will strive to highlight the successes of his “intense diplomacy” strategy with China and the progress in the three achievements that the White House cited after the leaders’ last meeting in California: in military communications, efforts to combat drugs and artificial intelligence — each of which the US has sought to at least increase dialogue with Chinese officials to limit misunderstandings and instability.
The meeting follows an alleged Chinese cyber attack on American telecommunications networks that the US intelligence community is investigating. U.S. officials believe a Chinese hacking group, which Microsoft has dubbed “Salt Typhoon,” may have accessed U.S. telecommunications for months and found a route to a court-authorized wiretap access point.
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The sweeping attack targeted Trump’s campaign as well as that of Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival in the election.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the attack “absolutely significant” in an interview with “Face the Nation.” CBS and claimed that Biden mentions cyber espionage every time he speaks to Xi.
“It’s something that the FBI, our Department of Homeland Security and our entire national security apparatus are intensively investigating,” he said. “And, of course, this will be on the agenda among all American officials and all Chinese officials in the coming weeks.”
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A senior administration official said Biden will warn Xi about what they see as reckless attacks on critical US networks and that such actions will only lead to further disconnection from Chinese-origin technology.
The relationship between the world’s two largest economies has stabilized over the past year and has improved significantly since China sent a suspected spy balloon over the US in early 2023 and increased military tensions around Taiwan.
At the same time, the Biden administration imposed technological restrictions and a ban on Chinese electric vehicles, as well as adding more tariffs to the existing tariffs they inherited from Trump’s first term.
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Biden’s team has frequently highlighted its efforts to keep communication channels open, including through Sullivan and his counterpart Wang Yi, who have helped stabilize ties.
A US official offered some unsolicited advice: Whatever the next administration decides to do, it will need to find ways to manage the relationship somehow.
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