US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold their final meeting on Saturday, a day after both leaders warned of turbulent times ahead. Donald Trump He’s returning to the White House.

Both men arrived Saturday morning for the second and final day of an Asia-Pacific economic summit in Peru, which has been overshadowed by new trade wars and diplomatic turmoil as Trump begins his second term.

Trump’s return has cast a cloud of uncertainty over efforts launched a year ago at the historic meeting between Xi and Biden in California to ease the tense relationship between Washington and Beijing.

The White House said the Xi-Biden meeting to be held during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Saturday will focus on a “delicate transition period” and ensure that competition with China “does not turn into a conflict.”

Trump’s landslide election victory over Democrat Kamala Harris sent shock waves around the world and marked the meeting of heads of state of the 21-member APEC group.

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Biden and Xi were to attend a closed-door “retreat” event with leaders of Canada, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and other countries ahead of a face-to-face meeting scheduled for 4pm (2100 GMT). Japan.

‘Major political change’

Xi and Biden, who will meet for the third time overall, separately warned of the choppy waters ahead at Friday’s summit.

China’s president expressed concern about “the spread of unilateralism and protectionism” in a written speech at the forum, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

Biden, for his part, said the world “has reached a moment of significant political change.”

Billionaire Republican Trump has signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing and threatened to impose tariffs of up to 60 percent on imports of Chinese goods to offset what he says is a trade imbalance.

He also named two major China hawks to his top team, including Marco Rubio, for secretary of state.

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Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, key U.S. allies, on Friday as he tries to salvage as much of his foreign policy legacy as he can. Asia.

Biden said strong U.S. ties with the two countries were necessary to “counter North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia” as Pyongyang sent troops to Ukraine.

Alliances are at risk

The return of Trump’s “America First” policies threatens the alliances Biden has forged on issues ranging from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to climate change and trade.

During his first term, Trump repeatedly threatened to cut U.S. defense commitments if Asian and European allies did not bear a larger share of the financial burden to protect them.

Trump’s threat of punitive tariffs won’t just hurt China, economists say economy but also those of the United States and its trading partners.

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It could also threaten geopolitical stability.

China is increasing its military capacity while increasing pressure on self-governing Taiwan, which it claims is part of its territory.

Sullivan said Xi and Biden are ready to discuss Taiwan and tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims vast maritime areas.

They will also focus on keeping communication channels open, especially military-to-military hotlines that were restored last year.

The foreign ministry in Tokyo said Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed “serious concerns about the increasing activities of the Chinese military” during a meeting with Xi at the APEC summit.

The APEC summit will end on Saturday, with Trump’s shadow cast over the international diplomatic agenda at next week’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Biden will go there as part of his Latin American tour, which will likely be his last major overseas tour.

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On Sunday, he will highlight the impact of climate change by stopping in the Amazon rainforest; This will be another important policy area that will be influenced by Trump, who has promised to “drill, baby, drill” for fossil fuels.

Source: AFP