Opinion | Biden’s real reason for wanting to meet Xi at the Apec summit

It seems the much-touted meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to go ahead at this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in San Francisco, which takes place next week.

The world is now expecting the meeting to materialise. It is clear that Beijing is inclined to agree to Washington’s request for their top leaders to catch up, even though the US does not appear to be letting up in the confrontational part of its “competition, collaboration and confrontation” policy towards China. Recall US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that America’s relationship with China will be “competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be”.

US actions of late include lengthening the sanctions list against Chinese companies, patrols in the Taiwan Strait and support for the Philippines’ moves against China in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The latest move has seen a group of lawmakers in the US Congress proposing to sanction Hong Kong officials and legal figures.

This hardly seems to be an atmosphere conducive to a fruitful summit, even with the recent efforts towards collaboration, such as increased flights between the two countries, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s reiteration that there cannot be decoupling with China and Vice-Premier He Lifeng’s hastily announced visit to the US this week.

Biden is likely to be eager to meet Xi mostly out of consideration for his re-election campaign. The sight of the two shaking hands could portray him as a president capable of coping with a world full of complications and extraordinary risks.