Biden, Xi ‘blunt’ talks result in deals on military, fentanyl

• Joe Biden says he still believes the view that Xi Jinping is a dictator.
• China cut military ties with the US after Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
• Two leaders agree to gather experts to discuss the dangers of artificial intelligence.

WOODSIDE, Calif.: After their first face-to-face talks in a year, US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed Wednesday to open a presidential hotline, resume military communications and work to curb of fentanyl production.

Biden and Xi met for about four hours on the outskirts of San Francisco to discuss issues that have strained US-China relations.

They plan to resume military contacts that China suspended after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.

“We’re back to immediate, open clear direct communication on an immediate basis,” Biden said.

In addition, Biden said he and Xi agreed to high-level communications. “He and I have agreed that either of us can take the call directly and we will be heard right away.”

But in a comment likely to upset the Chinese, Biden later told reporters that he had not changed his view that Xi is a dictator.

“Well, look, he is. I mean, he’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy running a country that’s a communist country,” Biden said.

Xi told Biden that negative views of the Communist Party in the United States were unfair, a US official told reporters after the meeting.

Biden and Xi came to the talks seeking to smooth over a rocky period in relations that worsened after an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon flew over the United States and was shot down by a US fighter jet in February.

Biden said he touched on areas of concern for Washington, including detained US citizens, human rights and Beijing’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea.

“We’re just talking, we’re just being blunt with each other so there’s no misunderstanding,” Biden said.

Military, Taiwan

Biden has asked the two countries to institutionalize military dialogue, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with his Chinese counterpart when that person is named, a senior US official said.

The US and Chinese militaries have had a series of near misses and heated exchanges over the past year.

Biden and Xi agreed that China would stop exporting items related to the production of the opioid fentanyl, the leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States. “It will save lives,” Biden said, adding that he appreciated Xi’s “commitment” to the issue.

Under the deal, China will immediately go after specific chemical companies that produce fentanyl precursors, a senior US official told reporters. He vowed to “trust but verify” Chinese actions on the drug.

The two leaders also agreed to bring together experts to discuss the risks of artificial intelligence.

A US official outlined an exchange for Taiwan, the democratic island that China claims as its territory. China’s preference is for peaceful reunification with the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan, Xi told Biden, the US official said, but Xi went on to talk about circumstances under which force might be used.

Biden said he emphasized the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The US official said Biden advocated maintaining the status quo and for China to respect Taiwan’s election process.

“President Xi replied, ‘Look, peace is all good, but at some point we have to move towards resolution more generally,'” Xi said, according to the official.

Xi also called on the United States to stop sending weapons to Taiwan and support China’s peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan, Chinese state media reported.

Biden said he asked Xi to use his influence in Iran to urge Tehran not to launch proxy attacks on US targets in the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues in Gaza.

Respect

Biden welcomed the Chinese leader to the Filoli estate, a country house and manicured gardens about 30 miles (48 km) south of San Francisco, where they will later travel for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit.

Xi came to the meeting seeking respect from the United States as China’s economy struggles to recover from sluggish growth.

Biden, who had long sought the meeting, gave a greeting aimed at showing respect and treated him as a major player in global hotspots.

“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” Xi told Biden as they and their delegations sat across from each other at a long table in an ornate conference room.

Biden said the US and China needed to ensure that competition between them “does not turn into conflict” and manage their relationship “responsibly”.

After lunch, the leaders took a short walk together in the manicured garden of the mansion after an interaction that lasted about four hours. Biden waved to reporters and gave two thumbs up when asked how the talks were going. “Well,” he said.

Xi told Biden as they began their talks that much had happened since their last meeting a year ago in Bali. “The world has emerged from the COVID pandemic, but it is still reeling from its massive effects. The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish.”

He called the US-China relationship “the most important bilateral relationship in the world” and said he and Biden “bear heavy responsibilities for the two peoples, for the world and for history.”

“For two big countries like China and the United States, turning their backs on each other is not an option,” he said. “It is unrealistic for one side to reshape the other, and conflict and confrontation have unbearable consequences for both sides.”

Leaders from the 21-nation APEC group – and hundreds of CEOs in San Francisco to quiz them – meet amid relative Chinese economic weakness, Beijing’s territorial disputes with neighbors and a conflict in the Middle East that divides the United States from allies .