Joe Biden warned on Sunday that he intended to draw “red lines” in the strained relations between the United States and Beijing during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, prelude to a G20 summit which promises to be marked by many deep divisions.
The Democratic president touched down on the Indonesian island of Bali on Sunday evening aboard Air Force One for the meeting of leaders of the summits of major world economies on Tuesday and Wednesday, after attending the summit of the Association of South Asian Nations Southeast to Phnom Penh.
The US president said he approached Monday’s meeting “strengthened” after the Democratic Party’s unexpected success in the midterm elections.
The two men have no shortage of subjects to debate, Washington and Beijing being at loggerheads on issues ranging from trade to human rights in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, passing by the status of Taiwan.
“I know Xi Jinping, he knows me,” he added, saying they always had “frank discussions.”
The pair have a relationship that dates back more than a decade to when Joe Biden was vice president, but on Monday they will meet face-to-face for the first time in their current roles.
“We have very few misunderstandings. We just have to determine what the red lines are, ”said the American president.
His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, assured that Mr. Biden hoped for “direct” exchanges but also to find subjects for “cooperation on substantive issues”. “The United States is ready for fierce competition with China but does not seek confrontation,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
According to the White House, Joe Biden will urge Beijing to use its influence to moderate North Korea, which has just carried out a record series of missile launches, seeming to be preparing to conduct the 7th nuclear test in its history.
Ryan Hass, former China official of the US National Security Council, said the Chinese president “should not be as accommodating with Biden” as he was with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a recent meeting, so as not to to be seen as “acceding to his demands on Ukraine, nuclear, or North Korea”.
China is Pyongyang’s main ally and US officials say that while Mr Biden will not make demands, he will warn Mr Xi that continuing the missile and nuclear program would mean the US will increase its presence military in the region, which Beijing fiercely opposes.
Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol “reaffirm that a nuclear test by North Korea will be followed by a strong and firm response from the international community”, said -they warned in a joint statement after a trilateral meeting.
Poutine conspicuously absent
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to go to the G20 summit, officially for scheduling reasons, but his absence is seen as a sign of isolation in the midst of military intervention in Ukraine.
Instead, he sent his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who arrived in Bali on Sunday evening.
The nearly nine-month-long Russian offensive in Ukraine has made Vladimir Putin’s trip difficult and politically risky. While war is not officially on the summit’s menu, it is high on the agenda of world leaders because of its impact on food and energy markets.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the G20 to focus on the economic issues behind the creation of this format bringing together the world’s major economies rather than on security issues that fall within the purview of the UN.
Unlikely release
Russia is expected to be under pressure to extend a deal allowing the export of grain and fertilizer through Black Sea ports, which expires on November 19.
At a minimum, Joe Biden and his allies want to get a clear message from the G20 to Vladimir Putin that a nuclear conflict is unacceptable.
But even on this subject, the rapprochement between China and Russia could make a common message with Westerners unattainable.
The host country of the G20, Indonesia, has done everything to preserve the balance, not wanting to favor either China or the United States and has resisted Western pressure asking it to exclude Russia. But Jakarta is not optimistic about the chances of an agreement leading to a common text at the end of the summit.
“Honestly, I think the international situation has never been so complex,” Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Investments and Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on the eve of the summit. “If in the end the G20 leaders do not produce a press release, that’s the situation, it’s OK.”