US President Joe Biden said talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had yielded progress in repairing strained ties in the bilateral relationship, hailing agreements to restore high-level military communications, combat fentanyl and open a dialogue over artificial intelligence.
“I believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had,” Biden said at a press conference Wednesday, following a summit aimed at repairing a bilateral relationship under intense strains. “We’ve made some important progress, I believe.”
Biden said the restoration of direct military-to-military contacts, would prevent the possibility of any miscalculations between the two countries. “That’s how accidents happen, misunderstandings, so we’re back to direct open clear direct communications,” Biden said.
“We’re going to continue to preserve and pursue high level diplomacy the PRC in both directions,” he added. “To keep the lines of communication open, including between President Xi and me. He and I agreed that each one has to pick up the phone call directly and be heard immediately.”
The leaders of the world’s two largest economies had not spoken for a year. Both sides celebrated the meeting, which lasted over four hours, as productive, and a step toward normalizing a relationship battered by a series of diplomatic and economic clashes. The agreements though largely roll back steps China took following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan — made over the objection of Beijing.
The meeting saw an extended discussion of foreign policy, with US officials saying they believe Xi indicated he wasn’t readying plans for a mass invasion of Taiwan. Biden responded that the US endorsed the status quo, and asked the Chinese to respect the electoral process in the island’s upcoming presidential vote, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Biden also said China should rethink accelerated military drills in the region.
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US officials also pressed Chinese counterparts to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Iran, which financially supports the militant group categorized as a terrorist organization by the US and EU.
Biden and Xi met Wednesday on the sweeping grounds of the Filoli estate in the town of Woodside, about 25 miles south of San Francisco. The carefully choreographed meeting went multiple sessions and included a working lunch featuring herb ricotta ravioli, heritage chicken, and almond meringue cake, as the pair and top aides huddled in a secluded century-old Georgian manor.
The deal from China on combating fentanyl was characterized by senior US officials as the most important agreement from the summit. The officials said Biden told Xi that fentanyl posed one of the worst drug problems the US had faced. The officials said they would watch closely to see if China follows through on the pledge.
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Biden said the agreement help “significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses from China to the Western Hemisphere.”
“It’s going to save lives and I appreciate President Xi’s commitment on this issue,” he said.
More than 150 people in the US die each day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The issue has also become a political flashpoint with Republican presidential candidates vowing to use military force against drug cartels in Mexico and disrupt economic ties between the US and China unless Beijing moved on the issue.
The move to recharge senior military-to-military communications was also high on the agenda following a series of close encounters between Chinese and American ships and planes in recent months.
China agreed to policy-level discussions with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as operational engagements at senior military levels, according to the US officials. That restores communications channels China halted last year to protest Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Since then, US officials have pushed hard to resume the talks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken detailed a Chinese jet’s intercept of a US B-52 in international airspace over the South China Sea during Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Washington, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
Blinken noted the table he and Wang were sitting at was 10 feet — the same space between the two aircraft during the incident — to highlight the need to restore communications to prevent conflict, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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China said the two countries had agreed to manage disagreements more effectively and have more dialogues and consultations to avoid misunderstandings.
“It is important that they appreciate each other’s principles and red lines, and refrain from flip-flopping, being provocative, and crossing the lines,” according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On artificial intelligence, the two sides agreed to a dialogue to keep the emerging technology from being deployed in ways that could destabilize global security, according to US officials.
Biden has made regulating AI a focus of his administration, signing an executive order last month that tasks federal agencies with setting standards for safety and security and requires developers to safety-test new models before releasing them to the public.
Not all of the conversation was serious. Biden and Xi, who have known each other for years and used to meet when both served as their countries’ respective vice presidents, traded memories of previous interactions. At one point, Xi jokingly thanked Biden, who is celebrating his birthday next week, for reminding him that his wife’s celebration was also coming up.
Ahead of the Biden-Xi meeting, the US and China released a statement detailing new commitments to cooperate on climate change, with promises to build carbon-capture facilities, curtail power sector pollution and take aim at the full suite of greenhouse gases helping warm the planet.
Biden asked Xi to do more on climate including taking steps on limiting methane emissions in the short term, the US officials said.
