The sentiments expressed below on the occasion of the Biden–Xi sideline summit contrast with whitewashing of or support for the Chinese regime exemplified by such pronouncements as attended Elon Musk’s recent exhibition on Twitter, above.
“Takeaways from the Biden–Xi summit, where low expectations were met”
Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned as the summit ended that Biden had “yet again undermined US national security interests.” The Idaho senator added: “China is not a normal country; it is an aggressor state. Biden is caving to Xi in exchange for a series of meaningless working groups and engagement mechanisms.”
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, November 16, 2023
“The Xi–Biden Bromance That Isn’t”
While Biden and Xi understandably want to ease tensions, the reality remains that China’s belligerence and near-confederacy with some of the world’s worst actors prevent much cooperation beyond that aim. (In the White House readout, the words “cooperation” and “competition” appear with the same frequency, no doubt deliberately.) As Seth Cropsey writes in the most recent issue of NR, “Russia, China, and Iran have forged an entente with clear resemblance to the Axis of the mid 20th century.” Jimmy Quinn reported this week on a U.S. commission’s findings concerning a “‘small but growing’ amount of evidence that China is seeking to influence America’s elections.” Biden, after Wednesday’s meeting, reiterated his assessment that Xi is a “dictator,” technically speaking.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s reaction said it all. In all likelihood, it won’t be long before Xinhua reverts to prior practice of blasting America’s “coercive diplomacy,” “evil” intentions, and “hegemonic interests.”
—Judson Berger, National Review, November 17, 2023
“The Biden–Xi summit was a total embarrassment”
The most outrageous embarrassment had—surprisingly—little to do with Biden, our feeble commander in chief. Instead, it had everything to do with America’s corporate elites, who at a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations jumped to their feet to applaud Chinese President Xi. Not only did the tycoons pay thousands of dollars to dine with China’s most autocratic and ruthless leader since Mao, many ditched a dinner with Biden held at the same time.
—Liz Peek, The Hill, November 17, 2023
“Xi Jinping focus of APEC demonstrations as he meets Joe Biden”
A demonstrator draped in a Free Tibet flag climbed a flagpole in front of the hotel where Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to meet with U.S. CEOs on Wednesday evening, capping a day of demonstrations against, and for, the Chinese leader….
Hundreds of critics of Xi marched through downtown around noon, a major protest against the leader. They moved through the city’s center, chanting “free Tibet” and “free Hong Kong.”
Headed by a police escort, the peaceful group—which stretched for multiple city blocks—blocked one of the main downtown thoroughfares, as it moved in a slow circle around the convention center’s perimeter.
“We can say beyond a reasonable doubt that this will be the largest anti-Xi protest during the bilateral talks hosted here in the United States in the history of Xi Jinping’s time as a dictator of China,” Pema Doma, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said early in the day.
—Max Cherney, Matt McKnight, Carlos Barria, Reuters, November 15, 2023
“The Biden–Xi Truce of the Moment”
The sign of a real thaw in relations would be if China eased up on its relentless military buildup and its military harassment of Taiwan and the Philippines. The People’s Liberation Army has stepped up its almost daily aircraft incursions across the median line in the Taiwan Strait. Some of the air and naval maneuvers are the sort that could presage an invasion or military blockade.
Chinese Coast Guard and maritime military are also interfering with Manila’s attempts to resupply the Second Thomas Shoal. This includes recent use of a water cannon to force a Philippine supply ship to alter course. The shoal is part of the Philippine holdings in the Spratly Islands, which China claims as its own, as it does pretty much the entire South China Sea. If Mr. Xi really wants to play by global rules, he’d call off the war hawks.
Mr. Xi also continues his diplomatic and economic help to Russia in Ukraine, and China is buying oil from Iran that helps Tehran finance jihadist militias targeting Israel and Americans. This is the pattern that anyone who has attended a Chinese banquet knows: Chinese leaders smile and toast to the friendship between our two peoples, while they undermine U.S. interests wherever they can….
Mr. Xi is no doubt sizing up Mr. Biden personally, contemplating how formidable the soon-to-be 81-year-old U.S. President will be as an adversary if relations again take a turn for the worse.
—Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2023
