The Biden-Xi meeting left one big question unanswered, says analyst
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The U.S. and China flags stand behind a microphone on the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on April 9, 2009.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Photographs
The U.S. and China have simply emerged from a high-profile meeting between their two leaders, putting a constructive tone about their relationship going ahead — however one huge query stays unanswered, mentioned an analyst.
“The open query for the broader relationship is whether or not the US and China can constructively handle the slow-motion collision that’s now unfolding between their very totally different worldviews,” mentioned Stephen Olson, senior analysis fellow at Hinrich Basis, in Tuesday notice after the digital summit.
The U.S. and China nonetheless face “hard-edged, irreconcilable variations” which can be deeply entrenched — and it stays to be seen whether or not the fallout between them will ease after the assembly between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese language President Xi Jinping, mentioned Olson.
“Neither nation goes to vanish. Neither nation will accede to the opposite’s view. The prudent path ahead could be to seek out believable methods for either side’s divergent narratives to coexist,” he mentioned.
Laborious-edged, irreconcilable variations are embedded in either side’s view of the opposite. These can’t be wished away.
Stephen Olson
senior analysis fellow, Hinrich Basis
Olson defined that China views the U.S. as a declining energy at a time when Beijing seems extra assured on the worldwide stage. The U.S. sees the circumstances round China’s rise as antithetical to its personal pursuits, and it have to be ready to “extra forcefully confront and problem” China, he added.
“Laborious-edged, irreconcilable variations are embedded in either side’s view of the opposite. These can’t be wished away,” mentioned Olson.
Biden appeared to acknowledge the problem, too. He mentioned there was a “want for common sense guardrails to make sure that competitors doesn’t veer into battle and to maintain traces of communication open,” in line with White Home readout after his assembly with Xi.
In the meantime, Xi mentioned in the course of the assembly that for China and the U.S. to get alongside “in a brand new period,” they need to abide by rules of mutual respect, peaceable coexistence and win-win cooperation, in line with China’s official English-language readout.
Beijing usually makes use of language like “mutual respect” in calling for extra favorable phrases from the U.S.
‘Issues can solely get higher’
The digital assembly between Biden and Xi was the closest communication between the 2 leaders since Biden took workplace in January.
U.S.-China relations have been rocky up to now few years, with either side clashing on points starting from insurance policies on commerce and know-how, to human rights and the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Biden-Xi assembly yielded little concrete deliverables, but it surely was nonetheless an necessary step in stabilizing relations between the 2 nations, observers mentioned.
“It is good that the 2 leaders met. From right here, issues can solely get higher,” Gary Locke, a former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. ambassador to China, instructed CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Wednesday.
“The 2 nations do want one another, and the world wants each nations to be cooperating and dealing collectively to resolve so many points,” mentioned Locke, now interim president of Bellevue School.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
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