Opinion: Biden holds a virtual summit with Xi Jinping — What’s the future of the US-China relationship?

This time, Biden was hosting another summit which I am really interested in — one with Chinese politician Xi Jinping. Biden pledged to improve cooperation between the two countries, however, he did not offer any real action. 

After the talk ended, each side emphasized the points of contention.

When I first watched the summit video on YouTube I thought they were two “old friends,” who haven’t met for a long time since the last time Biden visited Beijing, China.

According to the New York Times, what mattered most of these contentions was: Lists of mutual grievances that underscored the depth of divisions between them.

At first, I exclaimed: “Why are politicians never saying a truthful word even in front of people from the whole wide world? I only wanted to get a deeper understanding about what’s going on right now and what will be going on in the future.”

The truth is, while listening to elected officials, 65% of the US adults have reported very hard or somewhat hard to tell the difference between what’s true and what’s not true, according to PEW Research Center. 

So it doesn’t mean I couldn’t figure out what the future is for the US-China relationship. No, not because I am doing some research about future relationship issues.

I found some news from the Biden perspective.

Biden brought concerns about China’s human rights abuses and unfair trade and economic policies, according to the New York Times. 

Xi said America supporting Taiwan was “playing with fire,” warning them that dividing the world would bring disaster. In advance of the meeting, it was also made known there would be no concrete agreements or initiatives or a joint statement.

“It seems to me we need to establish some common-sense guardrails,” Biden said. ”We have the ability to change the world, as well as our people.”

From my point of view, different from former President Donald Trump, who destroyed the relationship between the two countries. Biden wanted to establish a relationship with Xi but still remained in the competition. I don’t know if this competition will be upgraded to the level of conflict which causes both countries to use their armed forces.

Both Biden and Xi pledged to work together. From what I perceive, they both struck a conciliatory tone, although there are some areas of disagreement.

Biden mentioned he and Xi have spent lots of time talking to each other over the years. Xi said he’s prepared to move in a positive direction, with Biden highlighting the “communication lines [are] open.”

With disagreements over problems like Taiwan’s future and China’s exploitation of “of vulnerabilities to bore deeply into the computer networks of American companies,” communication between the two countries is key.

Biden also consistently suggested avoiding “active military engagement in China,” even with the U.S. continuing to confront Chinese leadership and engaging in “competition with Beijing.” 

The relationship between China and the U.S. might improve. All the news I have read through or heard, the direction this relationship will be going tends to be positive. They will still have competition, but more in a win-win situation.

Biden and Xi wanted to work together in order to make the international order more in order. They wanted to establish more common-sense guardrails and they also wanted to use their power to gain ability in order to change the world.

During this summit, Biden brings an attitude of open-mindedness and “always willing to talk.” And that will be the ideal future of the US-China relationship if few or no major accidents happen throughout their relationship for the next few years.