'Play by the rules of the road': Biden will call for China to behave like a 'responsible nation' on climate change, human rights and Taiwan when he holds virtual meeting with President Xi today
Joe Biden will demand that China 'play by the rules of the road' when he holds his first presidential meeting with Xi Jinping today, aimed at defusing tensions over Taiwan and their competing nuclear arsenals.
The President, who called Xi an 'old friend' when they worked together under the Obama administration, has previously touted their relationship as evidence that good foreign policy starts with strong personal bonds.
But the fraught US-China relationship is at its lowest ebb in decades, with trust shredded by Beijing's murky handling of Covid-19 and increased aggression towards Taiwan.
Generals in Washington are particularly wary of China's colossal military build up after it emerged last month that a new hypersonic nuclear missile was launched in July - suggesting that Beijing's capabilities were more advanced than had previously been thought.
The virtual summit comes off the back of China - the world's biggest polluter - making concerted efforts to water down the language of the COP26 climate agreement finalized in Glasgow last week.
White House officials have set low expectations for Monday's virtual meeting: No major announcements are expected and there´s no plan for the customary joint statement by the two countries at the end.
There has also been no mention of whether they will discuss the COVID origins investigation, which the Biden administration has accused Beijing of stifling.
Taiwan will be at the top of the agenda for both nations following massive incursions by Chinese warplanes into the island's airspace, including 93 jets in a single weekend in October.
Biden will also challenge Xi on the climate crisis, as well as human rights abuses of the Uyghur Muslims in forced labor camps Xinjiang.
'This is an opportunity for President Biden to tell President Xi directly that he expects him to play by the rules of the road, which is what other responsible nations do,' an administration spokesman said.
'The President will be very direct and candid about areas where we have concerns about China's behavior,' the official added, citing Beijing's 'unfair' economic policies, human rights practices, and 'coercive behavior' towards Taiwan.
OLD FRIENDS: Joe Biden, who referred to President Xi Jinping as an 'old friend' in 2013, is holding a virtual summit with the Chinese leader on Monday
Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Vice President Joe Biden as they pose for photos at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, December 4, 2013
Xi Jinping eats a Hawaiian macadamia chocolate gifted by Governor of Hawaii, during a meeting with Joe Biden at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, February 17, 2012
CHINESE AGGRESSION TOWARDS TAIWAN: Taiwan will be at the top of the agenda for both nations following massive incursions by Chinese warplanes into the island's airspace, including 93 jets in a single weekend in October.
CHINA'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL: China's nuclear capabilities are growing at an alarming rate. Beijing tested a new hypersonic orbital missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead in July. The launch stunned experts who said the rocket is capable of striking anywhere on Earth from space in minutes - and would render US anti-missile defenses useless.
Taiwan, separated from China by a 110-mile strait, is governed by a democratically elected president who Beijing refuses to recognize.
Xi has spoken of Taiwan rejoining the 'motherland' as an inevitability and he would go down in history if he were the leader that conquered the island.
The US leader will need to reassure his counterpart that Washington takes no stance on Taiwan's sovereignty - the longstanding 'One China' policy - if he wants China to back off militarily.
America's announcement of a new security alliance with Britain and Australia in September - the Aukus pact - has further increased tensions in the South China Sea.
A Chinese diplomat said that the agreement 'seriously undermines regional peace and intensifies the arms race,' while another called it 'extremely irresponsible.'
As part of the deal, the US and the UK will supply nuclear submarine technology to the Australians.
It comes as China's own nuclear capabilities are growing at an alarming rate.
Beijing tested a new hypersonic orbital missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead in July and a second test was carried out in August.
The launch stunned experts who said the rocket is capable of striking anywhere on Earth from space in minutes - and would render US anti-missile defenses useless.
The White House did not officially comment on the launch when it emerged last month but said that it was 'watching closely.'
The litany of problems facing the US-China relationship means that Biden can only hoped to achieve so much.
'When it comes to U.S.-China relations, the gaps are so big and the trend lines are so problematic that the personal touch can only go so far,' said Matthew Goodman, who served as an Asia adviser on the National Security Council in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.
The public warmth - Xi referred to Biden as his 'old friend' when Biden visited China in 2013 while the then-U.S. vice president spoke of their 'friendship' - has cooled now that both men are heads of state.
Biden bristled in June when asked by a reporter if he would press his old friend to cooperate with a World Health Organization investigation into the coronavirus origins.
'Let's get something straight: We know each other well; we're not old friends,' Biden said. 'It´s just pure business.'
Biden nonetheless believes a face-to-face meeting - even a virtual one like the two leaders will hold Monday evening - has its value.
'He feels that the history of their relationship, having spent time with him, allows him to be quite candid as he has been in the past and he will continue to be,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in previewing the encounter.
Biden and Xi, ages 78 and 68 respectively, first got to know each other on travels across the US and China when both were vice presidents, interactions that both leaders say left a lasting impression.
Monday's meeting - the two leaders' third engagement since Biden became president - comes amid mounting tensions in the U.S.-China relationship.
The two held long phone calls in February and September where they discussed human rights, trade, the pandemic and other issues.
Biden has made clear that he sees China as the United States' greatest national security and economic competitor and has tried to reframe American foreign policy to reflect that belief.
Other U.S. presidents have held that bonding with a geopolitical adversary can be a good foreign policy strategy.
George W. Bush faced ridicule after his first meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin when he claimed that he had 'looked the man in the eye' and 'was able to get a sense of his soul.'
Bush would go on to host the Russian leader at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and bring him to his father´s estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the 43rd and 41st presidents took the Russian president fishing.
Putin ultimately frustrated Bush and the relationship was broken after Russia´s 2008 invasion of its neighbor Georgia.
Donald Trump went from disparaging North Korea´s Kim Jong Un as 'rocket man' to declaring the two 'fell in love' in an exchange of letters as the U.S. president unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Kim to give up the regime´s nuclear weapons program.
Biden's personal approach to foreign policy is in part informed by the fact that he´s been on the international scene for much of the last half-century, author Evan Osnos noted in the biography 'Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now.'
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden walk down the red carpet on the tarmac during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, September 24, 2015
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden hold T-shirts students gave them at the International Studies Learning Center in South Gate, California, February 17, 2012
China, the US and Russia are engaged in a global arms race that now includes the development of hypersonic missile technology. Here, the MailOnline has compared (from left) each country's main nuclear weapon, the latest hypersonic technology they have tested, their most up-to-date aircraft carriers, main battle tanks, and cutting-edge jets
'You can drop him into Kazakhstan or Bahrain, it doesn´t matter - he´s gonna find some Joe Blow that he met 30 years ago who´s now running the place,' Julianne Smith, a Biden adviser, told Osnos.
Some top Biden administration officials speculate that with Beijing planning to host the Winter Olympics in February and Xi preparing to be approved by Communist Party leaders to serve a third five-year term as president next October - unprecedented in recent Chinese history - that there's plenty of reason for the Chinese leader to look to stabilize the relationship in the near term, according to a person familiar with administration thinking. The individual insisted on anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Slowing economic growth and a brewing housing crisis also loom large for Beijing. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a CBS' 'Face the Nation' interview aired Sunday warned the deepening of Beijing's problems could 'have global consequences.'
At the same time, Biden, who has seen his polling numbers diminish at home amid concerns about the lingering coronavirus pandemic, inflation and supply chain problems, is looking to find a measure of equilibrium on the most consequential foreign policy matter he faces.
Biden would have preferred to hold an in-person meeting with Xi, but Xi has not left China since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The virtual meeting was proposed after Biden mentioned during a September phone call with the Chinese leader that he would like to be able to see Xi again.
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