Keys to understanding the meeting between Biden and Xi 2:35
Washington (CNN) -
When Chinese President Xi Jinping contacted the White House Monday night for a virtual summit with President Joe Biden, the two men didn't need an introduction.
"We've spent a lot of time talking to each other, and I hope we can have a candid conversation tonight as well," Biden said as the conversations began, sitting at the head of the table in the Roosevelt Room as Xi's face was broadcast in a pair. of television screens.
From his seat in a cavernous room inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi was just as friendly.
"Although it is not as good as a face-to-face meeting," Xi said at the beginning, "I am very happy to see my old friend."
It was an auspicious start to some of the most critical conversations of the Biden presidency, given the deterioration of ties between Washington and Beijing and the reality, recognized by government officials, that managing America's relationship with China will be the trick. Biden's most critical international target.
Taiwan on the table
The affable greetings finally turned more serious when Biden voiced his concerns about human rights, China's aggression toward Taiwan, and trade issues.
Throughout, the leaders engaged in a "healthy debate," according to a senior administration official present at the discussions.
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Officials said the three-and-a-half-hour summit, which took longer than planned, gave the two men ample opportunity to diverge from their prepared talking points.
The tone remained "respectful and direct," officials said.
But the long-awaited summit yielded no major breakthroughs - none were expected ahead of time - and officials dismissed the notion that the summit was intended to ease what has become an increasingly strained relationship.
"I don't think the purpose was particularly to ease tensions, or that that was the result. We want to make sure the competition is managed responsibly, that we have ways to do it. The president has been pretty clear that he is going to participate in that tough competition, "the senior administration official later said.
Xi and Biden's relationship when they were vice presidents of their countries
Biden likes to cite the dozens of hours and thousands of miles he reached with Xi when they both served as vice presidents of their countries.
He claimed to have spent more time with the Chinese president than with any other world leader.
But things have changed since Biden, as he likes to recall, was having dinner with Xi on the Tibetan plateau and described America with one word: "possibilities."
Now, the world's two largest economies are embroiled in heavy tensions over trade, military aggression, and human rights.
And Biden, who kicked off the virtual summit Monday night, is in a high-tension act with China's most powerful leader in decades.
During the summit, each man recounted stories of his time traveling together, sometimes quoting the other's words from that time, the senior administration official said.
As the talks progressed, Biden said he hoped to discuss a substantive and far-reaching agenda.
"As I said before, it seems to me that our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that competition between our two countries does not become a conflict, whether intentional or unintentional. Just direct competition," he said.
he said, speaking to Xi through a translator.
Biden vows to protect Taiwan and China warns of "wrong signals" about the island's independence
"It seems to me that we have to establish some common sense barriers, to be clear and honest where we disagree and work together where our interests intersect," continued Biden, asking to communicate "honestly and directly" on a variety of discussion topics. .
"We never leave wondering what the other man is thinking," he said.
Conversation topics between Biden and Xi
Subsequently, the White House said that Biden raised concerns about human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in western Xinjiang province and in Tibet.
Taiwan, which has been a source of increased tension in recent months, was a subject of extensive debate during the summit.
Biden emphasized the importance of the "one China" policy and was forthright in his concerns about Chinese behavior threatening stability in the Taiwan Strait.
But he did not establish any of the new "railings" referred to at the beginning of the talks.
On covid-19, Biden reaffirmed the importance of transparency to prevent future disease outbreaks, a nod to China's unwillingness to allow an international investigation into the origins of the current pandemic.
Whistleblower explains how Uighur prisoners are tortured 7:31
And he raised areas where the US and China can cooperate, including climate change.
The two countries recently surprised observers at the COP26 climate talks in Scotland with a joint commitment to cutting emissions.
After speculation that Xi could use the meeting to invite Biden to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, officials said the issue did not come up.
White House officials hoped that a grand signing ceremony on the South Lawn for a massive new public works package, which took place a few hours before Biden's virtual summit, would help signal progress on the main foundation of his foreign policy: demonstrating that democracies can deliver more effectively than autocracies like China.
He planned to detail the new infrastructure package to Xi.
The fact that the bill was passed with the help of some Republicans, fulfilling Biden's promise to work across party lines, helps keep his promise to show that democracies can work, according to officials.
The political position of Biden and Xi
However, he entered the talks at a time of political weakness.
His party fared poorly in an out-of-year election this month in Virginia, and polls continue to show his approval rating at some of the lowest levels of his presidency.
That stands in stark contrast to Xi, whose consolidation of power in China was cemented last week when the Chinese Communist Party adopted a landmark resolution that raised him in stature to his two most powerful predecessors: Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
Officials said the upgrading of Xi's status only increased the imperative of a face-to-face with Biden.
Xi Jinping's achievements in China could allow him to rule for life 3:21
China surprises at COP26 with a promise to work with the US.
Almost every issue Biden focuses on, domestically and internationally, has a nexus with China.
The supply chain problems that are driving inflation in the country can be attributed in part to shortages in Chinese plants.
Fighting climate change requires buy-in from Xi, who has shown some willingness to partner with Biden on the issue.
Managing global hot spots like North Korea and Iran involves coordination with Beijing.
Face-to-face meetings
Biden is a fan of face-to-face meetings and complained early in his presidency that virtual summits, where foreign leaders are connected on video screens, couldn't reproduce the chemistry of sitting face-to-face.
US officials say leader-to-leader meetings are even more important with Xi, whose inner circle has grown smaller and smaller and who now wields a historic level of power.
Over the summer, attendees were hoping to host a meeting between the two men on the sidelines of this year's Group of 20 summit in Rome.
But Xi hasn't left China in nearly two years, partly because of COVID-19 concerns.
So, Biden settled on a virtual summit as a way to advance his two previous phone conversations with Xi.
"There is something different about seeing someone physically, in the depth of the conversation they may have, compared to just on a normal phone line," the administration official said, describing different ways to prepare for a video conference compared to just a phone conversation.
CNN's Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.
Joe BidenXi Jinping
