Biden and Xi meet on the sidelines of the APEC conference | AP News

Last Updated: November 15, 2023 03:13 PM

Published: November 15, 2023 01:30 PM

To the domestic audience in China, Beijing continues to blame the U.S. for problems in the bilateral relations and urges Washington to “establish correct views” of China.

The official news service Xinhua said in a series of editorials that Washington should walk out of its “zero-sum” mentality and expand cooperation to further stabilize and improve bilateral relations.

Beijing has expressed hope that Washington would respond with “concrete actions.”

“We hope the positive attitudes as shown by the US in recent interactions are not political calculations and tactical opportunism,” Xinhua said in an editorial. “We hope the oral promises made will become concrete policies and actions.”

Ahead of the meeting between Biden and Xi, senior White House officials said Biden would walk away from the talks with major announcements expected on curbing the flow of chemicals used in the production of fentanyl and concrete steps to revive military-to-military communications.

The lush estate where Biden and Xi are meeting may look familiar to 1980s television fans or movie buffs fond of Michael Douglas.

Biden and Xi were speaking behind closed doors at the Filoli Historic House and Garden, which features a Georgian revival-style mansion and a formal, English Renaissance-style garden.

The retreat consist of 16 acres of formal gardens and is surrounded by a 654-acre estate. It is located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco.

The property was built in 1917 as a private estate for the Bourn and Roth families, but has since become a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. It is normally open to the public, but a message at the top of the estate’s website currently reads, “Filoli is closed November 13-15 while we deck the halls for the Holidays!”

David Fincher’s 1997 mystery/thriller “The Game,” which starred Douglas, was filmed in part on the property. So was the multipart pilot for ABC’s primetime soap opera “Dynasty,” which aired from 1981 to 1989.

I’m still of the view that major country competition is not the prevailing trend of current times and cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world at large. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed. And one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.

Xi Jinping

Biden and Xi are stressing the need for their nations to strengthen mutual understanding while cautioning that their interests will sometimes conflict.

The pair opened their face-to-face meeting in the San Francisco Bay area with a solid handshake. Later, they sat at one long table together rather than at separate ones.

Even small details like floral arrangements were important for a meeting where protocol is of the utmost importance. Flowers on the table appeared to be evergreens.

Biden said the purpose of the meeting was to “understand each other.” He said, “As always, there’s no substitute to face-to-face discussions.” He added of Xi, “We’ve known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed.”

Biden also said that he wants “no misconceptions or miscommunications” and that the two leaders have to “ensure that competition doesn’t veer into conflict.”

Xi spoke of the need to strengthen cooperation to combat climate change but also condemned what he called rising “protectionism.”

Biden says the aim of the APEC summit is for leaders to “understand each other.” Xi says they bear “heavy responsibilities” for the world.

The two leaders made the comments Wednesday after shaking hands in their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

A large crowd gathered in front of the Chinese consulate to condemn Xi has started marching toward Moscone Center, where main APEC events are being held.

They held signs reading “Free Hong Kong” and “Tibet belongs to Tibetans” and chanted “Free Tibet” and “Down with the CCP,” referring to the Chinese Communist Party. They started matching around 11 a.m. Wednesday local time.

Speakers implored the Biden administration to stand up to Xi and his human rights violations.

Biden and Xi have opened their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year with a solid handshake ahead of talks with far-reaching implications for a world grappling with economic cross currents, wars in the Middle East and Europe, tensions in Taiwan and more.

The two leaders, meeting at a bucolic country estate outside San Francisco, are looking to get communications back on track after a tumultuous year and to show the world that while they are global economic competitors, they’re not locked in a winner-take-all faceoff.

Since the two leaders last met, already fraught ties have been further strained by the U.S. downing of a Chinese spy balloon, differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails and other incidents.