Analysts predict incremental progress in US–China relations following Biden-Xi meeting, but significant hurdles remain
An analyst stated that he doesn’t “put a lot of faith” in China to deliver on commitments Mr. Xi agreed to during the meeting. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to some efforts to warm U.S.–China relations, but foreign policy analysts believe the progress made was modest and there remains a wide diplomatic gulf between the two nations after last week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. According to a White House readout of their Nov. 15 meeting, President Biden and Mr. Xi agreed to resume high-level military-to-military communication between their countries and new bilateral efforts to combat international drug manufacturing and trafficking. Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) Deputy Director John Dotson stated that any meeting between the United States and China “is a sign of progress in and of itself.” However, he told NTD’s “Capitol Report” that tangible results from their meeting will likely remain “pretty modest.” Miles Yu, a senior fellow and director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, also described the outcomes from the Nov. 15 meeting between the two leaders as “very limited” and called for a wait-and-see approach on the action items they discussed in the closed-door interaction.
One particular issue that still divides the two countries is their respective policies toward Taiwan. Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China, has governed itself independently for decades, but the People’s Republic of China (PRC) contends that the island is a part of mainland Chinese territory. The United States has maintained a more ambiguous position on either side’s claims of control over China, stating formal diplomatic relations with the Chinese regime, while continuing informal relations with Taiwan and supplying weapons to the island that could be used to counter Chinese efforts to assert control over the island through military force. Mr. Dotson’s organization, GTI, has a stated mission “to enhance the relationship between Taiwan and other countries, especially the United States.” Mr. Dotson assessed that President Biden’s meeting with Mr. Xi didn’t result in much change in the long-standing positions of the United States and China on Taiwan. Economic ties between the United States and China add another layer of complexity to relations between the two nations. Mr. Dotson believes that China uses its economic ties with other nations as a tool to coerce those nations to stay in China’s good graces or to punish actions the Chinese side disfavors. Mr. Yu argued that the United States should be less focused on building up bilateral relationships with China, as opposed to strengthening ties with other nations in the Indo-Pacific region. Some foreign policy analysts have urged caution in how the United States redefines its economic ties with China. In his own comments, Mr. Dotson said “there’s no entirely easy answer” for how the United States should handle economic relations with China going forward.
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