Virtual summit between Joe Biden and Joe Biden: an interview to relax the atmosphere
Photo montage of Joe Biden in Washington, November 6, 2021, and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Brasília, Brazil, November 13, 2019. AP - Alex Brandon, Eraldo Peres
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping performed, Monday evening for the first, Tuesday noon for the second because of the jet lag, a highly anticipated virtual summit, the US president stressing the need for “
safeguards
” to avoid “
a conflict
” between the two countries and the Chinese president pleading for better "
communication
".
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Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have known each other for a long time, reports
our correspondent in Washington,
Guillaume Naudin
.
The two were not yet at the peak of power but they spent hours talking on Joe Biden's trips to China while he was a member of Congress.
So they took the time again - nearly four hours - but the Chinese number one may greet his "
old friend
" - a qualifier that Joe Biden denied in June - personal relations do not really weigh heavily in the face to the interests of two great rival powers.
The two leaders know it and Joe Biden does not try to say the opposite when he explains that the competition between the two countries must not degenerate, intentionally or not for that matter, and that it must be put in place common sense safeguards to avoid it.
► Also to listen:
No "cold war" between the United States and China, but a "rivalry"?
A point of common interest despite everything?
The US president has therefore launched an open and frank discussion on what, in his opinion, is wrong with the Chinese attitude, such as the deep differences on the Taiwan question, human rights in Xinjiang and the militarization of China. South China Sea.
Joe Biden expressed his "
concerns
" about human rights in China and issued a warning regarding Taiwan, according to a White House statement on Tuesday. The US president expressed his "
concerns about (China's) practices in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and human rights in general
." He also said that the United States remains true to the "One
China
" policy, and "
strongly opposes
" any "
unilateral
attempt
to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability in the country. the Taiwan Strait
”, according to the text published at the end of the meeting.
► To read also:
Beijing will hold criminally responsible for life the supporters of the independence of Taiwan
There is a lot of disagreement, but since everything cannot be negative, we must emphasize what can be a point of common interest: climate change, for example.
The two countries surprised at COP26 by agreeing to work together on the subject.
► See also:
COP26 and the China Seas: the contradictory speeches of Beijing and Washington
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United States
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Joe biden
Xi Jinping
Taiwan
COP26
Human rights