OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:05 AM – Monday, November 18, 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated that he looks to have a significant working relationship with President-elect Donald Trump during a final outgoing meeting with President Joe Biden on Saturday.
President Biden and President Xi reportedly discussed multiple topics, including trade, Taiwan, the Russia-Ukraine war, and cyber crime while at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
One of the bigger demands came from Biden, who attempted to persuade Xi to call on the removal of North Korean troops in Russia, which the Associated Press reported there were roughly 10,000 North Korean troops assisting in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, President Xi seemingly looked to the future as he spoke on plans to engage with the incoming Trump administration.
“China is ready to work with a new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-U.S. relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi stated. “China’s goal of a stable, healthy, and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged.”
Although Xi appears optimistic regarding a future relationship with the United States, Trump’s announced 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese products could affect the cooperation, and possibly initiate an aggressive response from Beijing.
Xi also added that “a new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won. Containing China is unwise, unacceptable and bound to fail,” issuing a stark warning to incoming President-elect Trump.
Xi continued, arguing that a stable relationship between the two superpowers is “critical to both parties and the world,” continuing to add that if U.S. and China “treat each other as opponents or enemies, engage in vicious competition and mutual harm, China-U.S. relations will suffer setbacks or even regressions.”
“The Chinese are ready to negotiate and deal, and probably hope for early engagement with the Trump team to discuss potential transactions,” stated Bonnie Glaser, the managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific Program. “At the same time, however, they are ready to retaliate if Trump insists on imposing higher tariffs on China.”
Biden reiterated the need for cooperation, adding that “Our two countries cannot let any of this competition veer into conflict. That is our responsibility and over the last four years I think we’ve proven it’s possible to have this relationship.”
In another point of contention, Biden spoke on the China-Taiwan rising tension. China has long postured that Taiwan, an independent democracy, belongs to China, even running aggressive military exercises as a show of force.
“The United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, that we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, and that the world has an interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House recently stated, as Biden “called for an end to destabilizing PRC military activity around Taiwan.”
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