Biden hits world stage with midterms spring in his step
BrecorderNov 11, 2022
The Facts
On Thursday, the White House announced that US Pres. Joe Biden will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. This comes as relations between the world's two largest economies are reportedly at their lowest point in decades.
The meeting, scheduled for Monday, will be the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since Biden took office in January 2021, and after Xi recently secured an unprecedented third five-year term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
After the Democrats did surprisingly well in the US midterm elections, Biden heads to the G20 summit with fresh momentum as leader of the free world. In his first face-to-face meeting as US president with China's increasingly authoritarian leader, he can also point to some positive economic numbers while China's economic boom has slowed. At the G20 summit, Biden can now make a case for democracy, freedom, and human rights not only in China but worldwide from a position of strength.
Establishment-critical narrative
China's "red line" is already known — Taiwan. But there are legitimate doubts about whether Washington is willing to respect the one-China policy and, thus, China's territorial integrity. Since Putin will not attend the G20 summit, the role of mediator between the West, BRICS, and the so-called developing countries falls to China. If the US is serious and enters the talks in a spirit of cooperation and respect, the meeting could be a success.
Cynical narrative
Beijing accuses the US of trying to prevent China's rise, while Xi stokes anti-Americanism at home. Biden, in turn, is pushing for economic restrictions on China and provoking Beijing with threats to defend Taiwan. At the G20 summit, the time has come to abandon the path of confrontation and do the right thing — talk to each other. This will not solve bilateral problems, but it's still the best way to avoid miscalculations amid rising tensions between the two nuclear world powers.
