APD | Optimistic about the virtual meeting between President Xi and President Joe

APD NEWS

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Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. (E-mail: [email protected]).

I am optimistic that the virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden will lead toward the diffusion of tension existing between China and the US. Both are big countries and significant contributors to the global economy, development, and stability. Any misadventure between China and the US may cause an unimaginable cost to humankind. The only option is to diffuse tension and move forward.

The virtual meeting was just a beginning, and a long journey has to yet pass. The meeting was quite cordial, polite, and very well-mannered. Although both sides have differences and have expressed serious concerns on several issues, the tone was friendly and created hopes for cooperation.

Both President Xi and President Joe, well known to each other for a long time and have met several times earlier when both were in junior positions in a different era. Both understand each other's personalities and chemistry, too, need not have a formal introduction before a virtual meeting.

"We've spent an awful lot of time talking to one another, and I hope we can have a candid conversation tonight as well," Biden said as the talks got underway, sitting at the head of the Roosevelt Room table as Xi's visage was broadcast on a pair of television screens. From the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi was just as friendly. "Although it's not as good as a face-to-face meeting," Xi said as the summit got underway, "I'm very happy to see my old friend."

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President Joe Biden received the US-China tension in inheritance from the legacy of President Donald Trump. However, it was a promising start to some of the most critical talks of Biden's, given the deteriorating ties between the two big countries and the reality, acknowledged by administration officials, that managing the US relationship with China will amount to Biden's most critical international objective.

President Joe raised all burning issues like human rights, Chinese stance toward Taiwan, and trade matters despite all diplomatic etiquettes. President Xi addressed all of his concerns and straight forward shared his point of view.

It is worth mentioning that President Xi is the most powerful president in the whole world in the current world. He is also Chairman of the Military Commission in China, having full military command and authority. He is also Secretary-General of the CPC, enjoying full political authority and executive powers as President of China. Just last week, the Chinese Communist Party adopted a landmark resolution elevating him to his two most powerful predecessors -- Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Legally, his powers and authorities are much more than any ruling President in the whole world. He is brilliant, visionary and understands his powers and responsibilities. He is very much pertinent in his remarks, and any words coming from his mouth are very well calculated, and he means it precisely. Whatever he says, he proves with his actions.

The meeting was so interesting that it longed for the three-and-a-half hours, which stretched longer than planned, allowed the two leaders ample opportunity to diverge from their prepared talking points. The tone remained "respectful and straightforward," the observer said.

Although the highly anticipated summit yielded no breakthroughs immediately, none were expected ahead of time -- and officials dismissed the notion the meeting was intended to ease what has become an increasingly tense relationship. It has set a road map of future dialogue and ultimately improved the relationship in the days to come.

The international community is very optimistic about the virtual meeting. Some international experts of global politics and scholars view the virtual meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, as a solid signal to enhance positive expectations of the international community on bilateral ties. The two sides had in-depth communication and exchanges on strategic, overarching, and fundamental importance shaping the development of China-U.S. relations and important issues of mutual interest.

The international community's common desire is to resolve all differences and disputes through dialogue diplomatically and politically and move forward with cooperation in the global economy, developments, security, and stability.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)