Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to work with the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on conflicts from cyber crime to trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Russia.
Biden met Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months.
“China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged” after Trump’s election, Xi said as he met Biden, acknowledging “ups and downs” between the countries. “China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences.”
Biden told Xi that the two leaders have not always agreed but their discussions have been “frank” and “candid.”
Two months before Trump returns to the White House, U.S. officials see magnified risks of conflict during the transition. Biden told Xi that maintaining leader-to-leader talks would be vital even after he left office, said Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The president-elect has vowed to adopt blanket 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods as part of a package of “America First” trade measures. Beijing opposes those steps. The Republican also plans to hire several hawkish voices on China in senior roles, including U.S. Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Biden has aimed to lower tensions with China, and there were few signs of a breakthrough on the major issues.
But Biden and Xi did agree that human beings, not artificial intelligence, should make decisions over the use of nuclear weapons, according to the White House, the first time the countries are known to have raised the issue.
The U.S. and Chinese presidents also talked about North Korea, an ally of China whose deepening ties with Russia and deployment of troops in Moscow’s war with Ukraine have raised concerns in Washington, Beijing and European capitals.
At the same time, Beijing’s economy is taking a stiff hit from Biden’s steps on trade, including a plan to restrict U.S. investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors and export restrictions on high-end computer chips. All of those topics are expected to figure into the talks, U.S. officials said.
