On November 15, President Joe Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco, California, where they will confirm that the United States and China do not intend a “conflictive” relationship, much less a “cold war,” but rather competition. .
“We are in competition with China, but we are not seeking a confrontational confrontation or a new Cold War,” a senior White House National Security official said of the meeting. “We are about managing the competition responsibly. We will go into the meeting confident in our overall approach and position. First, we are going to hit the ground running with game-changing investments in America’s strength at home.”
The meeting between Biden and Jinping is possible after intense negotiations between the diplomatic teams.
“We go into this meeting having deepened our alliances and partnerships abroad in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago,” one of the officials added.
He added that for three years, the Biden Administration achieved key alliances with South Korea, the Philippines, India and Australia.
The basis for advancing to a bilateral meeting between Biden and Jinping was achieved in Bali, recalled one of the officials, who highlighted that the US arrives at the meeting in a different position, due to the progress in several laws that allowed for the re-boosting of investments.
Last November, within the framework of the G20, Biden and Jinping had a summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The Biden Administration refers to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the Science and CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have allowed investments in different sectors, such as the renewal of train transportation and advancing the production of semiconductors .
“We will come to the meeting confident in our overall approach and our position…we are going to hit the ground running with game-changing investments in America’s strength at home,” one of the senior officials said.
The Biden Administration recognizes China as a high-level competitor with which it does not want confrontation.
“We believe that intense competition requires and demands intense diplomacy to manage tensions. And to prevent competition from reaching conflict or confrontation,” the official added. “We hope China remains present and a major player on the world stage for the rest of our lives.”
The shadows of Ukraine and Israel
Senior White House officials are confident that the meeting between Biden and Jinping will be positive on different fronts, as they will address economic and security issues.
“We expect the leaders to discuss the strategic direction of the bilateral relationship, the importance of maintaining close communication… we hope they cover a variety of regional and global issues, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s conflict with Hamas,” one acknowledged. of the officials.
Human rights issues could also be addressed, as well as the situation in the China Sea.
Tension between China and the US intensified with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, due to the closeness between Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and a possible military alliance.
This was fueled by the fear that China would claim Taiwan as its territory, but the visit of senior American leaders to that territory and the sale of weapons by the United States has complicated the relationship even more.