Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met this Saturday, on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Peru. After the traditional handshake, the two world leaders acknowledged the “ups and downs” in relations between China and the United States over the past four years.
The highlight, however, was the notion that what was left behind is less important than the future. “China stands ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a smooth transition of the China-US relationship,” said Xi Jinping, quoted by the British newspaper “ Guardian.” It wasn’t even necessary to mention Donald Trump’s name.
The Chinese leader also spoke of the renewed concerns of new trade wars and diplomatic tensions that the new U.S. administration’s policies will face starting in January, particularly as the new U.S. president promised the adoption of 60% tariffs on all imports from China. Ji Xinping He stated, however, that the two countries must “inject more certainty” into a turbulent world.
Jo Biden, from the outset, defended that the strategic competition between the two global powers must not turn into war. “Our two countries cannot let this competition turn into conflict. This is our responsibility and, in the last four years, I think we have proven that it is possible to have this relationship”, he said, quoted by the BBC.
Biden also acknowledged on Saturday that there had always been disagreements with Xi Jinping, but added that the discussions were “frank” and “sincere”. And note that both wanted to hold the meeting was in an attempt by both leaders to highlight the meeting points, instead of repeating the differences, pointing out theAgreements on the need, for example, for human beings, and not artificial intelligence, to maintain control over the use of nuclear weapons merited the consensus of Biden and Ji Jinping.
After Peru, Joe Biden heads to Brazil, where this Sunday he is expected to arrive in the city of Manaus, where he hopes to address the situation in the Amazon rainforest, ravaged by a serious drought, and meet with indigenous leaders. Ji Jinping, on the other hand, is also heading to Brazil to participate in the G20 meeting, but, upon arriving in Lima, he inaugurated a deep-water port in Chancay, one of Beijing’s most ambitious infrastructure investments in Latin America and which brings Asia and South America closer together.
Source: expresso.pt
