Home World The new Cold War isn’t inevitable (but highly likely)

The new Cold War isn’t inevitable (but highly likely)

It is not inevitable that the world will enter a new Cold War, US president Joe Biden said Monday after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. But it is also not a harmony between China and the United States, according to Biden. “We understand each other,” he said. “But it’s not kumbaya.”

The meeting between the two leaders in Bali lasted three hours. “Xi was direct and clear,” Biden said. The Chinese president was ” as he always was – direct and straightforward. Biden said he had underlined that the U.S. is prepared for tough competition, but not out for conflict.

According to the Chinese state press agency Xinhua, Xi made it clear that the current state of relations between the two countries is not in their interests, nor is it what the international community expects. The two have a “historical responsibility” to ensure harmonious relations in a new era.

The relationship is difficult. Economic competition, tensions around Taiwan and disagreements over Putin’s war are turning the tide. On the world stage, the two countries are each other’s biggest competitors. The US is struggling with the fact that China, as a modern superpower, has been sidelined in a few years. Under President Trump, competition with China was elevated to the core of foreign policy and that hasn’t changed under Biden.

At home, the two leaders politically have the wind in their backs. Xi Jinping has just been reappointed as general secretary of the Communist Party for a five-year term. Biden arrived in Asia knowing that the Republicans are on the defensive after last week’s Congressional Election.

Tensions around Taiwan

Biden was keen to ease tensions around Taiwan. According to him, China is not about to annex the island. And he stressed that US policy towards Taiwan has not changed. He also warned China not to attack Taiwan.

Taiwan sees itself as an independent state, but Beijing sees it as a part of China that will sooner or later be reunited with the motherland. The United States does not formally recognize Taiwan, but does treat it as an independent country. Washington always deliberately left in the Middle what it would do if China overpowered Taiwan. Biden said several times that the US would defend Taiwan, and the White House corrected him.

China said after the meeting that Taiwan is “the first red line” in China-US relations, a red line that the US should not cross. Taiwan is an internal matter, Xi said.

So the meeting did not bring any major breakthroughs. But each side got something. Biden was given the guarantee that China wants to continue talking on a number of points and Xi was told by Biden that he was repeating the traditional Taiwan policy of the US. Biden also gave Xi the pleasure of visiting him at his hotel.

China said Taiwan is “the first red line” the U.S. should not cross

The two spoke in Bali on the eve of a meeting of the leaders of the twenty main economies, the G20. At the top of the agenda is Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine. At the end of last week, the Kremlin announced that Putin will not move, which was immediately interpreted in the West as a sign of isolation. Instead of Putin, Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would represent Russia.


About the author: John Campbell

John Campbell is the godfather of Polimedia and the oldest author from the whole team. His occasional guidance is crucial for everyone he advises.

Load More Related Articles
Load More In World

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *