Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
September 4, 2023
It looks like that Biden will be disappointed again, because Xi will not attend the APEC meeting hosted by Biden in San Francisco November 12-18th, 2023.
A key roadblock set up by Biden Administration recently has not been resolved. Time is running out, less than 70 days from the APEC meeting, there is no sign of the issue even being addressed. On July 28, 2023, the US announced that:
US bars Hong Kong leader John Lee from San Francisco Apec summit
Chief executive, who is under US sanctions over role implementing city’s national security law, will not be invited to November event.
Xi will not be at the APEC summit without Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. Especially, Lee was sanctioned by the US for “implementing Xi’s national security law.
US Defense Secretary Lord has not been able to talk with Chinese Defense Secretary Lee for the same reason: Li Shanghu is sanctioned by the US.
If Biden is seriously about a summit with Xi in November, he has to take actions to void these sanctions quickly. Surely Biden is going to get to see Xi sometimes later, but Biden may not be the US President anymore.
Biden disappointed Xi will not attend G20 summit
By Kelly Ng BBC News September 4, 2023
US President Joe Biden has said he is “disappointed” that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping plans to skip the upcoming G20 summit in India.
“I am disappointed… but I am going to get to see him,” Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday, but did not say when that meeting may take place.
Beijing said on Monday that its premier Li Qiang would lead China’s delegation at the summit in Delhi this week.
Mr Xi and Mr Biden last met at the G20 summit in Indonesia last year.
Mr Xi and Mr Biden may still have an opportunity to speak in November, at a meeting among leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco.
In an attempt to improve ties, a series of top US officials have travelled to China in recent months. They include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
Meanwhile, Mr Xi continues to portray Beijing as a leader of the developing world, rallying support for an alternative to the Washington-led world order.
China’s top spy agency casts doubt over Xi Jinping attending Apec talks
South China Morning Post
Mon, September 4, 2023 at 2:30 AM PDT
China’s top spy agency has cast doubt over President Xi Jinping‘s attendance at the coming Apec summit in San Francisco in a social media post calling on the US to “show real sincerity”.
In the WeChat post on Monday, the Ministry of State Security said that despite positive signals from senior US officials during recent China visits, Washington’s new approach was to “compete” with Beijing.
The ministry – which oversees the secret police and intelligence – accused the US of being “two-faced” in its China policy, which it said was “doomed to fail” as Beijing would not follow Washington’s agenda.
“To truly realise the move from Bali to San Francisco, the US needs to show real sincerity,” it said.
That was a clear reference to a potential meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, to be held in the Californian city in November.
It comes as China’s foreign ministry on Monday confirmed that Xi will miss this weekend’s G20 gathering in New Delhi, with Premier Li Qiang to take his place.
Biden had on Sunday responded to reports that Xi may not attend, saying he was “disappointed … but I am going to get to see him”, without elaborating.
In the social media post, the state security ministry said Washington had signalled that it did not intend to undermine China’s development yet the US had approved arms sales and military assistance to Taiwan, “stirred up trouble” over Xinjiang and Tibet, and “downplayed China’s economy”.
It said US strategy on China had in the past involved “engagement” while “quietly pushing for its infiltration and containment”.
Now, according to the ministry, the US strategy on China was to “compete” and “manage the competition”.
It said that included “decoupling and disconnecting at the economic level, ganging up at the political level, deterrence and containment at the security level, discrediting and disparaging at the public opinion level, and constraining and locking down at the rules level”.
“We fear that the US has even more bleak tactics it could use,” the post said.