Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit with President Biden since November 2022 and his first visit to the US in more than 6 years came with much fanfare. As California’s liberal Governor Gavin Newsom admitted, they proved that they could clean up the homeless problem in San Francisco if they wanted to. All it took was for one of their communist heroes to visit, and they would clean it right up.
In a four-hour meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Xi and Biden proceeded to get the absolute bare minimum of agreements locked in. With both agreeing that military-to-military talks need to be resumed, Biden will have US leaders create contact points between themselves and Chinese military officials. With lines of military communication breaking down most recently in August 2022, Biden has done little to repair them.
Secondly, Biden got Xi to not only acknowledge the massive production of the primary chemicals that are used in the creation of Fentanyl but to also agree to have them stopped. A hollow promise if there ever was one, this was an example of Xi giving Biden something he will never be held to, and that Biden can never prove went undone.
In remarks following the meeting, Biden wasted no time blowing his own horn. “I welcome the positive steps we’ve taken today and the world needs to see that we’re implementing the approach in the best traditions of American diplomacy. We’re talking to our competitors and just talking, just being blunt with one another, so there’s no misunderstanding is a key element to maintaining global stability and delivering for the American people.”
Biden added that he and Xi have reached an agreement that when one picks up the phone, the other will answer.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also be meeting with an unidentified Chinese military official to lay the seeds for building this promised military-to-military communication. Sadly, from Austin’s experience so far, diplomacy is not his strong suit. Rather, he tends to fold like a cheap suit and doesn’t face aggression with much resolve. Instead, he breaks down his tactics in the hopes that giving an inch will gain him a mile. It happened as the last combat troops were pulling out of Iraq in 2011.
One of the topics that Austin will likely also be talking about is the tension between China and Taiwan. While Biden pushed the message of peace being the goal, Xi made no bones about it. A senior administrative official was quoted as saying, “President Xi basically said, ‘Look, I hear all these reports in the United States how we’re planning for, you know, military action in 2027 or 2035.’ And there seemed a slight amount of exasperation in those comments. And then basically said, ‘There are no such plans. No one has talked to me about this.’”
Senior administration officials also confirmed their discussions of Ukraine and Russia’s conflict, the progression of the battle between Israel and Palestine, and how both parties felt about proceeding there. When Biden attempted to bring up artificial intelligence (something he has proven to not understand), Xi nipped that in the bud. They agreed that they would both need in-depth discussions and that any kind of deal or even trying to outline one would be futile.
The media’s assertions that Biden was strong with Xi convey the exact opposite of what has been played out over the years in public and leaked communications. Instead, Xi has led Biden around by the nose. Looking at how little was accomplished in their meeting, it would certainly seem as if Xi is still doing it now. Biden has never been good at foreign politics, having a backbone, or inspiring a sense of respect from other leaders. Instead, he just continues to sell us out and make us weak. Sure seems like nothing changed.
