Make wise choice to keep relations stable, ready to work with new govt: Xi Jinping to US President Joe Biden

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met US President Joe Biden for the last time during the latter’s tenure, but was already looking ahead to President-elect Donald Trump and his “America first” policies, saying Beijing “is ready to work with a new US administration”.

During their talks on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Xi cautioned America that a stable China-US relationship was critical not only to the two nations, but also the “future and destiny of humanity”. “Make the wise choice. Keep exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other,” he stated.

Without mentioning Trump’s name, Xi appeared to signal his concern that the incoming president’s protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail could send the US-China relationship into another valley. “China is ready to work with a new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the people of two nations,” Xi said through an interpreter.

Meanwhile, Biden urged Xi to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The two leaders had much to discuss, including China’s indirect support for Russia, human rights issues, technology and Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy that Beijing claims as its own. On artificial intelligence, the two agreed on the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons.

There’s much uncertainty about what lies ahead in the US-China relationship under Trump, who campaigned promising to levy 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports.

Biden had viewed his relationship with Xi as among the most consequential on the international stage and put much effort into cultivating it. But the last four years have presented a steady stream of difficult moments too. The FBI this week offered new details of a federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into US telecommunications networks. White House officials have also expressed frustration with Beijingover its trade with North Korea.