ST HSIEH
November 14, 2023
President Xi and President Biden both are in San Fransico now, and we can be sure that the Summit “Show” will be on in few hours.
We use the term “show” because as the attached news report stated that “optics” are important. Further, “optics” are very important, and equally, for both Biden and Xi. In fact, the world is watching! It is an important Summit for the world too: tensions between the US and China, the world two largest economies, only inject global stabilities. As of now, the US is responsible for two wars already.
We understand Biden’s expectation of ‘to get on a normal course’ with China’ but Biden has to convince the China Hawks in the US. Biden is facing a weak reelection bid and there is the real chance that his promises to Xi will last less than a year. The last time that China cut off US-China communications was when the then Speaker of House, Nancy Pelosi, insisted on visiting Taiwan. President Biden was not able to talk Nacy out of the trip, basically he did not want to call her by phone about her trip.
A stable bilateral relation is not built in one-day, we have to learn the lesson from the past and seriously working on maintaining a hard won stable relation.
‘No detail too small’: How the U.S. and China planned President Xi’s visit
Monica Alba and Courtney Kube and Janis Mackey Frayer and Mike Memoli
Tue, November 14, 2023 at 4:00 AM PST
WASHINGTON — A presidential meeting at an undisclosed location. Students lining the streets waving Chinese flags. A $2,000-per-plate dinner with the most powerful business executives in America.
Every aspect of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to California this week has been highly choreographed, down to what he sees outside the window during a motorcade ride and what camera angle he’s recorded from, according to people familiar with the planning.
“There is no detail too small,” said Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific.
Any meeting between two heads of state involves a degree of pomp and circumstance, but President Joe Biden’s long-awaited sit-down with Xi on Wednesday is the product of a painstaking process to accommodate China’s many requests. The behind-the-scenes effort is a sign of Beijing’s anxiety over the optics that could result from Xi’s first visit to the U.S. in six years.
Overall, China is looking for Xi’s trip to California to be seen as a “grand visit,” officials said.
The White House isn’t even sharing the precise location of Wednesday’s meeting, with officials publicly citing “operational security” concerns but privately conceding the Chinese didn’t want it disclosed to try to minimize protests. To try to visually overwhelm any protests, Chinese officials are expected to bring in students from across California to wave Chinese flags and show support for Xi. The move is meant to ensure Xi has a “pleasant visual” as he moves from event to event, a former official familiar with the planning said.
The U.S. also has cleaned up San Francisco, including clearing out encampments of people experiencing homelessness and sprucing up the streets.
They insisted that the meeting be held before a broader gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in San Francisco this week and at a location entirely separate from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit site, two current and former U.S. officials said. China’s request was designed to elevate Xi’s stature above that of the other world leaders traveling to California this week, the officials said.
Another event where Xi will optically stand a cut above his counterparts is scheduled to take place Wednesday evening.
After he meets with Biden, Xi is scheduled to headline a $2,000-a-plate dinner with top U.S. CEOs and other dignitaries, officials said. They said that Biden isn’t expected be there because he’ll be hosting a separate dinner but that some high-level administration officials might attend.
Xi plans to deliver a major address at the dinner, which is being organized by American think tanks, including the Asia Society and the U.S. China Business Council, officials said. The evening also will include a private VIP reception beforehand for key executives, they said.
The Chinese are keenly focused on courting the business community, as U.S. investment in China has been sliding in recent years, a huge priority area for Xi during the California visit. The CEOs dinner is also meant as a signal to Washington, according to experts, about the strong ties the Chinese government has with some influential business leaders, as the Chinese economy struggles to recover post-pandemic.
Biden administration officials have spent the months since then trying to reduce tensions with China, with the goal of getting a meeting between the two leaders on the calendar. In that sense, the U.S. also has incentive to make sure Xi feels his visit was a success, and it has worked to accommodate China’s requests.
One of China’s requests was the timing of formally announcing Wednesday’s meeting, an administration official said. China wanted to delay an announcement until Monday, just two days before the meeting, another U.S. official said. The White House compromised and agreed to announce it Friday, though officials wanted to make it public earlier, the official said.
Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, said that for this trip by Xi, administration officials have been involved in discussions with the Chinese about “every possible aspect of the visit,” from camera angles to seating arrangements.
“I think both sides want a high degree of predictability when our two leaders really sit down opposite each other,” he said.
An unpredictable dynamic for Biden that could sour the optics for his goal of presenting the U.S. as economically strong and an example of a thriving democracy: a potential government shutdown.
Biden says he hopes ‘to get on a normal course’ with China
Washington Post
Tue, November 14, 2023 at 3:39 AM PST
Biden Says Goal for Talks With Xi Jinping is to Get U.S.-Chinese Communications Back on Stable Ground
Time Inc
Tue, November 14, 2023 at 10:47 AM PST