In a significant diplomatic move, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Lima, Peru, on Saturday. The leaders described their meeting as candid, profound, and constructive, expressing a mutual willingness to maintain open lines of communication.
Both presidents emphasized the critical role of China-U.S. strategic communication, highlighting the importance of regular contact between their respective diplomatic and security teams. They discussed dialogue mechanisms addressing military-to-military relations, economic and trade ties, and financial issues.
Reiterating the seven-point common understandings, Xi and Biden outlined guiding principles for China-U.S. relations. These include mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, maintaining open communication channels, preventing conflict, upholding the United Nations Charter, cooperating in areas of shared interest, and responsibly managing competitive aspects of their relationship.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that both sides are prepared to uphold these principles, continuing efforts to stabilize China-U.S. relations and ensure a smooth transition in their bilateral relationship.
Political Foundation and Red Lines
President Xi stressed the importance of respecting China's red lines and paramount principles. Acknowledging that contradictions and differences between major powers like China and the United States are inevitable, he warned against undermining each other’s core interests or seeking conflict and confrontation.
Xi highlighted the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués as the political foundation of their relations. He identified four red lines: the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China's path and system, and China's development rights, asserting that these must not be challenged.
Unchanged Commitments
Xi affirmed that China's goal of a stable, healthy, and sustainable relationship with the United States remains unchanged. He reiterated China's commitment to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, as well as its position on safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests.
China expressed readiness to engage in dialogue, expand cooperation, and manage differences with the United States to sustain the momentum toward stable relations.
Expert Insights: Consistency in China's Approach
Experts noted that the meeting reflected China's consistent stance on its relationship with the United States. Gao Fei, vice president of China Foreign Affairs University, stated, \"China's goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged. President Xi and Biden's meeting shows that we have not given up on this effort.\"
Zhou Wenxing, associate professor of international politics at Nanjing University, added, \"The meeting conveyed to the world the prospects of stability in the development of China-U.S. relations, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world today, and has somewhat alleviated the anxiety of countries around the world about the current situation and future development.\"
Reference(s):
Xi, Biden agree to continue to stabilize China-U.S. relations
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