Biden and Xi have far to go if they want to dispel fears of Cold War
Biden and Xi Jinping had more in common with a counseling session for a couple contemplating divorce. The premise: Let’s try to keep things civil for the kids.
All week, fear of a new Cold War has loomed over San Francisco, where Asia-Pacific leaders are gathered. After four hours of talks on Wednesday, the US and Chinese presidents offered a glimpse of just how hard it’s going to be to manage their relationship away from that course.
The meeting at the Filoli Estate, 30 miles south of San Francisco, was months in the planning. But when the stakes are high, and the differences fundamental, even the most arduous diplomatic groundwork can sometimes only yield small victories.
The US and China have agreed to collaborate on climate and artificial intelligence, and resume military-to-military contacts. More American students will be welcomed in China, Chinese pandas may return to American zoos, and Xi vowed to crack down on fentanyl shipments. Bigger and more divisive issues like trade, tariffs leftover from the Trump years and competition over technology were set aside for now.
Also largely unanswered after Wednesday’s talks was the question of what comes next.
There are plans for working groups that will see middle-ranking officials meet occasionally, but no future high-level interactions were announced aside from a planned China trip by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, although the two leaders pledged to speak directly if tensions flared. And 2024, which starts with a presidential election in Taiwan and ends with another one in the US, is shaping up to be a crucial year for the world’s most important relationship.
‘Improving the Mood’
“The meeting came out as well as it could have,” Michael Froman, head of the
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