The presidents of the United States, Joe Bidenand China, Xi Jinping, hold a meeting this Monday that can be described as historic, also the first time in which they see each other face to face since Biden occupies the White House. The most urgent and worrying issue on the leaders’ agenda is Taiwan, a hot spot since the controversial visit to the island of Nancy PelosiSpeaker of the House of Representatives, but so is Ukraine.
The meeting will take place in Bali, Indonesia, in the hours prior to a G20 summit from which It has been deleted Vladimir Putin, today the number one enemy of the international community. Thus, Biden will be able to discuss with Xi his position on Russia, calculatedly ambiguous or Double game: Beijing opposes the invasion and aggression against the Ukrainian people but assumes a new world order in which it counts more on Moscow than on Washington, with the Kremlin hand in hand in the Taiwanese cause.
The meeting takes place from 10:30 am in a hotel, with advisers and simultaneous translation. According to the White House, Biden aims to strengthen communication channels with Xi that avoid misunderstandings and establish “clear rules of circulation” that save a conflict between the two powers. Taiwan and Ukraine on the table, but also Human Rights, trade relations and North Koreaall in a meeting with a lot of previous work and that is expected to last two hours.
“Deep Differences”
In its 2022 National Security Strategy, the United States identifies Russia as “an immediate and persistent threat to peace and stability”, but China as “the most important geopolitical challenge” in that it is “the only competitor that wants to reshape the international order”, with “economic, diplomatic, military and technological” power to achieve being “the first power”. In the document, Washington advocates putting “ties” before “profound differences” and “working together.”
Regarding Taiwan, he exposes his frontal opposition to “any unilateral change in the status quo” already the independence of this territory, and is on alert: the head of US naval operations fears that China may invade the island this year. in the recent XX Congress of the Communist PartyXi left no room for doubt about his intentions: “We insist on fighting for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and maximum efforts, (…) but we will not promise to renounce the use of force and we reserve the option to take all necessary measures.”
[EEUU alerta: China crea “tremendas tensiones” y busca anexionar Taiwán “mucho más rápido”]
Officially at least, Biden and Xi have spoken five times so far since January 2021, when Biden began his term. The last time they saw each other in person was in January 2017, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Biden attended as vice president of Barack Obama. The president of the United States arrived in Bali this Sunday. The G20 summit is held this Tuesday and Wednesday in the Indonesian capital.
Russia-Ukraine War
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