Historic Joe Biden – Xi Jinping Meeting at Filoli Estate (Cal). Biden Hails “Real Progress”
Leaders of US and China agree to resumption of military-to-military communication amid efforts to stabilise ties.
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US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have concluded more than four hours of talks with a commitment to stabilise strained bilateral ties and restore some military-to-military communications.
The two leaders met on Wednesday for the first time in a year at Filoli Estate, a country retreat about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of San Francisco.
After a handshake and smiles, they sat down for talks that lasted more than two hours.
Next was a working lunch with key officials, followed by a stroll around the manicured gardens.
Writing on social media site X, Biden said he valued the conversation he had had with Xi.
“I think it’s paramount that we understand each other clearly, leader to leader,” Biden wrote. “There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress.”
It was the two leaders’ first face-to-face meeting in a year and it coincided with the annual summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) a short drive away in San Francisco.
“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” Xi told Biden.
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A US official told reporters there was significant back and forth between the two leaders over Taiwan, with Biden chiding China over its massive military build-up around the island, and asking it to respect the territory’s electoral process.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for January, with William Lai, the current vice president and a man Beijing has labelled a “separatist” leading opinion polls.
Xi, meanwhile, stressed the island was part of China.
“The US side should … stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification,” Xi told Biden, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. “China will realise reunification, and this is unstoppable.”
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Featured image: President Joe Biden greets President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, Wednesday, November 15, 2023, at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California. (Official White House Photo by Carlos Fyfe)
