As Biden and Xi meet, can their old connection avert a clash? - The Washington Post

Later successful the whirlwind trip, Biden made a much superior point: “President Obama and I privation to spot a rising China. We don’t fearfulness a rising China.”

More than a decennary later, the 2 men are slated to conscionable again aft Biden arrives Sunday nighttime successful Bali, their archetypal face-to-face gathering since Biden became president and Xi consolidated his presumption arsenic the strongest Chinese person successful caller memory.

Biden surely has not acquired the heavy mane of the Chinese diplomat. His medication present precise overmuch does fearfulness a rising China. And U.S. officials are hoping that — someway — the idiosyncratic transportation the 2 men forged much than a decennary agone tin soften the often hostile, sometimes volatile and perchance unsafe standoff betwixt 2 planetary behemoths.

The Biden-Xi gathering is possibly the astir consequential brushwood of a six-day overseas travel that volition circumnavigate the globe, and it comes astatine the fulcrum of Biden’s presidency. He departs conscionable aft voters delivered a verdict connected the archetypal 2 years of his tenure, giving him better-than-expected results but perchance costing Democrats power of at slightest 1 enclosure of Congress.

It besides comes arsenic the Pentagon issues caller warnings that China poses the “most broad and superior situation to U.S. nationalist security.” With colliding positions connected trade, Ukraine and particularly Taiwan — and adjacent fears of a planetary U.S.-China acold warfare — the unit connected Biden could hardly beryllium greater.

The question, diplomats say, is whether their aged transportation tin beryllium capable to mitigate the bitterness of the rivalry betwixt the 2 superpowers.

“We’re successful an atrocious dynamic, and what is being enactment to the trial is whether determination is capable of a relationship, capable respect and quality to listen,” said Daniel Russel, a U.S. diplomat who helped program Biden’s travel to conscionable with Xi successful 2011. “There’s thing there. These guys truly bash cognize each other. And they person a legacy, a relationship.”

He added, “It’s the 1 happening we person to enactment with — that is benignant of the lone happening we’ve got going for america successful slowing the decease spiral of the U.S.-China relationship.”

While Biden arrives astatine the Group of 20 acme successful Bali with caller governmental challenges aft antiauthoritarian elections enactment Republicans connected the verge of a House majority, Xi comes strengthened, conscionable weeks aft steamrolling immoderate absorption to widen his autocratic reign by astatine slightest different 5 years.

“Xi Jinping is feeling each almighty successful his interior politics,” said John Delury, a prof of Chinese studies astatine Seoul’s Yonsei University. “China is rising and feeling stronger and stronger successful the relationship, and Xi is going to bring that into his gathering with Biden.”

The hostility betwixt the 2 leaders’ identities lent play to their 2011 brushwood and whitethorn bash truthful again this week. One is simply a devoutly Catholic Irish American who prides himself connected a middle-class upbringing and a jovial persona. The different is simply a faithful Communist Party subordinate who has cultivated an representation arsenic a pragmatic antheral of the people.

Both are heavy institutionalists who person travel up successful diametrically opposed governmental systems and are present locked successful a conflict that Biden has formed arsenic an existential trial of democracies versus autocracies.

At 1 time, they referred to each different successful glowing terms, but nary more. Biden has called his onetime person “a thug.” Xi precocious called Biden “my aged friend,” but his government’s statements of hostility toward the United States are unmistakable.

The anticipation of a detente, nevertheless frail, comes from a infinitesimal soon aft Barack Obama took bureau erstwhile the White House was anxious to get a consciousness of Xi, who was a rising fig and presumptive person of China but besides an enigma.

“Xi was a spot of an chartless commodity — helium had not served successful the benignant of station that led to a batch of enactment with Americans,” said Ben Rhodes, who was Obama’s lawman nationalist information adviser. “There was a existent payment successful having idiosyncratic walk a batch of clip with the feline to instrumentality his measure, get to cognize him and acceptable up Obama’s capableness to deed the crushed moving with Xi erstwhile helium became president.”

Biden had traveled to China lone doubly before, but helium plunged into the task. He and Xi sat for beverage and held respective dinners, ceremonial and informal. They held lengthy meetings successful Beijing and traveled to Sichuan state to circuit a centuries-old irrigation project. They visited a school, wherever Xi signed basketballs and Biden changeable hoops (successfully scoring aft a half-dozen tries).

Biden made quality successful Beijing erstwhile helium slipped distant for a luncheon of pork buns, noodles and cucumbers astatine a tiny family-run edifice (it was known for its pig intestines, which Biden seemingly skipped), joined by his granddaughter Naomi, who had studied Mandarin.

While Chinese leaders were criticized for being affluent and distant, Biden dug into a repast that outgo the equivalent of $12. The enactment won fashionable sum connected Chinese societal media, though it whitethorn person discomfited his hosts with their much aloof benignant of leadership.

But Xi himself rapidly showed signs of being a new, little ceremonial benignant of Chinese leader, if not rather an American-style politician.

“It was wide to maine that Xi Jinping was trying to larn much from Biden arsenic a peer, astir however you bash it, what is it like,” Russel said. “He was astir to embark connected this unthinkable task starring China. We had nary thought astatine the clip each of the plots and ambitions helium had successful the backmost of his mind, but helium wanted to cognize more. This is not a idiosyncratic who had overmuch acquisition dealing with the world.”

When Xi made a reciprocal sojourn to the United States six months later, Biden toasted him astatine a State Department luncheon and hosted him for meal astatine the Naval Observatory, the vice president’s authoritative residence. Later successful the trip, Biden met Xi successful Los Angeles, wherever they toured a school.

“What Biden’s travel helped reaffirm for america was that [Xi] is ambitious, he’s a larger personality, and we’re going to person to woody with a antithetic benignant of Chinese leader,” Rhodes said. “The mode Xi behaved connected those trips, you could archer helium was much of a person than an apparatchik.”

Once Xi became president, Biden’s interactions were much constricted arsenic Obama took the superior role. He did question to China successful 2013 — accompanied by his lad Hunter, who met with a Chinese concern partner during the travel — and spent much than 5 hours with Xi.

Xi continued to corroborate aboriginal impressions of his bolder, much idiosyncratic style: Meeting with Obama in 2013 successful Rancho Mirage, Calif., helium broke retired a vessel of hard liquor during a moving meal to toast his chap president.

Like immoderate fig of stories Biden tells, those involving him and Xi person grown much elaborate implicit time. While they unquestionably spent ample amounts of clip together, Biden has dramatically overstated their engagements.

He has repeatedly claimed, for example, that they traveled 17,000 miles unneurotic successful China and the United States. A White House authoritative said Biden was referring to the full region helium traveled to be the meetings — not needfully their existent clip unneurotic — but adjacent that does not afloat adhd up, according to The Washington Post’s Fact Checker.

Biden has besides pegged the clip they spent unneurotic erstwhile helium was vice president astatine 24 oregon 25 hours, and arsenic president, Biden has spent possibly 10 much hours connected the telephone with Xi. Yet his estimates of their interactions person ranged acold beyond that.

In March, helium said the 2 had had “over 36 hours of backstage meetings.” A period later, helium referred to it arsenic “90-some hours of talking oregon meeting.” About 4 hours later, helium remarked, “I deliberation it’s present up to 70-some hours with Xi Jinping.”

Since then, helium has cited their meetings connected 12 occasions, often alternating betwixt “76 hours” and “78 hours,” though helium precocious shaved disconnected 10 hours and said they’d spent 68 hours together.

Biden besides often says helium has spent much clip with Xi than immoderate different person has, thing that is besides astir apt a stretch. Obama spent important clip with Xi aft Biden’s archetypal visits, and overseas argumentation analysts accidental that Russian President Vladimir Putin astir surely has been with Xi much than immoderate American president.

Xi is simply a superior quality successful 1 of the astir predominant stories Biden tells. He has recounted it astatine a General Motors works successful Detroit; an infrastructure lawsuit successful Rosemount, Minn.; a White House Hanukkah menorah-lighting ceremony; an Equal Pay Day event; a gathering of U.S. troops successful Poland; and a Hispanic Heritage Month reception.

In the anecdote, Biden recalls being with Xi connected the Tibetan Plateau erstwhile Xi asked him, “Can you specify America for me?” Biden says helium responded, “I can, successful 1 word: possibilities.” Telling the communicative successful July 2021, Biden elaborated, “Possibilities — it’s what America is built on. It’s 1 of the reasons wherefore we’re viewed sometimes arsenic being somewhat egotistical. We judge thing is imaginable successful America.”

Aides who were with Biden accidental that they bash not callback that precise speech but that it would person been successful keeping with the leaders’ open-ended conversations meant to probe each other’s satellite views. “They were unburdening themselves and trying to explicate and convey what benignant of a state are we, what bash we believe?” Russel said.

Biden worked to gully retired Xi, quoting William Butler Yeats oregon offering an aphorism helium said came from his father: “The lone happening worse than warfare is unintended war.”

But immoderate enslaved has frayed implicit the years arsenic China has taken connected a caller ambition and aggressiveness nether Xi. Biden during his statesmanlike campaign called him a “thug,” albeit “a astute guy.” He has said his counterpart does not person a antiauthoritarian “bone successful his body.”

And possibly mindful of erstwhile presidents who believed they had a rapport with Putin, Biden has dismissed the thought that helium and Xi are buddies. “Let’s get thing consecutive — we cognize each different well, we’re not aged friends,” helium said successful June 2021. “It’s conscionable axenic business.”

But helium has besides referred, astir wistfully, to a clip erstwhile the 2 engaged successful a seemingly genuine effort to recognize each other.

“We’ve spent an atrocious batch of clip talking to 1 another, and I anticipation we tin person a candid speech contiguous arsenic well,” Biden said earlier a virtual gathering successful 2021. “Maybe I should commencement much formally, though you and I person ne'er been that ceremonial with 1 another.”

“I’m precise blessed to spot my aged friend,” Xi responded.

The authorities successful some countries person changed radically since 2011, and the 2 superpowers are acold much openly antagonistic.

“I deliberation Xi Jinping believes his vantage connected immoderate American president is they’ll beryllium gone earlier helium is. He sits atop a strategy helium has full power over,” Rhodes said. “He looks astatine a Joe Biden and knows, ‘I volition beryllium president of China aft you are president of the United States.’ ”

Xi himself has changed, Rhodes added, which volition unit a recalibration from Biden.

“The Xi Jinping of 2022 is not the Xi Jinping of 2011,” Rhodes said. “That was a feline who was astir apt trying to ingratiate himself due to the fact that helium was a newcomer. Now helium is simply a feline who thinks he’s the astir almighty antheral successful the world, adjacent much almighty than the president of the United States. It’s the quality betwixt the caller kid connected the artifact and the bully connected the block.”

A elder medication authoritative said White House aides expect the gathering to beryllium a “substantive and in-depth conversation” betwixt the 2 leaders but did not expect substantive advancement connected large issues.

Instead, the authoritative said, White House officials presumption the gathering arsenic an effort for Biden and Xi to recognize each other’s priorities and found a “floor” for the narration to guarantee lines of connection stay unfastened astatine times of tension.

“I’m not consenting to marque immoderate cardinal concessions,” Biden said during a quality league connected Wednesday. “I’ve told him: I’m looking for contention — not conflict,” helium added.

Leon Panetta, the erstwhile defence caput who knows some men, compared their existent enactment to “two boxers circling, truly trying to measurement conscionable precisely what the strengths and weaknesses are of the different side.”

He added, “I deliberation heavy down, some recognize that successful galore ways, determination has to beryllium a amended mode for some countries to woody with 1 different alternatively than perpetually threatening to destruct 1 another. In the property for some of these leaders, determination is simply a greater strain of wanting to spot if there’s a mode to accommodate the other. But who the hellhole knows — sometimes events tin destruct the champion of intentions.”