In meeting with Biden, Chinese Xi warns US to make wise choice to maintain stable relations

(AP) – The Chinese leader Xi Jinping He last met with U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday, but was already eyeing President-elect Donald Trump and his “America First” policy, saying Beijing was ready to work with a new U.S. administration.

During their interviews on the sidelines of the annual meeting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit In Peru, Xi warned that a stable relationship between China and the United States was essential not only for the two nations, but also for the future and destiny of humanity.

Make the right choice, he warned. Continue to explore the right way for two great countries to get along well.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Xi appeared to express concern that the new president's protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail could send U.S.-China relations into another valley.

China is willing to work with a new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences to move toward a smooth transition of China-U.S. relations for the benefit of the two peoples, Xi said through the intermediary of an interpreter.

Xi, who is firmly entrenched at the top of China's political hierarchy, spoke forcefully in his brief remarks to reporters. Biden, who is ending more than 50 years of public service, spoke more broadly about the evolving relationship between the two countries.

He reflected not only on the past four years, but also on the decades during which the two men knew each other.

We haven't always agreed, but our conversations have always been open and frank. We were never wrong, Biden said. These conversations avoid miscalculations and ensure that competition between our two countries does not escalate into conflict.

Biden urged Xi to deter North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia's war against Ukraine. The executives, surrounded by senior staff, gathered around a long rectangle of tables in a large conference room in a Lima hotel.

They had a lot to discuss, including China's indirect support for Russiahuman rights issues, technology and Taiwan, the autonomous democracy that Beijing claims as its own. On artificial intelligence, both men agreed on the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons and, more broadly, to improve the security and international cooperation of this rapidly expanding technology.

There is a lot of uncertainty on what lies ahead in U.S.-China relations under Trump, who campaigned on a promise to take Rates 60% on Chinese imports.

Many U.S. companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have already diversified their purchases outside of China. Shoe brand Steve Madden announces plans to reduce imports from China up to 45% next year.

In a congratulatory message to Trump after his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Xi called on the United States and China to manage their differences and get along in a new era. In front of the cameras on Saturday, Xi spoke with Biden, but there was no doubt that his message was aimed at Trump.

In a major and flourishing scientific and technological revolution, neither decoupling nor disrupting the supply chain is a solution, Xi said. Only mutual and beneficial cooperation can lead to common development. A small yard and a high fence are not what a big country should pursue.

Biden administration officials said they would brief the Trump team that managing intense competition with Beijing would likely be the most significant foreign policy challenge they will face.

On Saturday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden reaffirmed to Xi that these next two months are a period of transition and that the president wants to move the U.S.-China relationship on stable terms to the new administration.

Biden views his relationship with Xi as one of the most important on the international stage and is putting a lot of effort into cultivating it. The two men first became acquainted during trips through the United States and China while they were both vice presidents, interactions that they say left a lasting impression. They last met a year ago on the sidelines of APEC in Northern California.

For more than a decade, you and I have spent many hours together, here and in China and in between, Biden said. We have spent a lot of time dealing with these issues.

But the last four years have been marked by a series of difficult times.

The FBI this week offered new details about a federal investigation In Chinese government efforts to hack U.S. telecommunications networks. Initial results revealed a large and significant cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics.

Sullivan said Biden raised the issue with Xi during their talks and the United States would have more to say about the investigation in the coming weeks.

US intelligence officials also assessed China increased sales in Russia machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies that Moscow uses to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons for use in his war against Ukraine.

And tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that was passing through the United States.

Biden wants Xi intensify Chinese engagement to prevent an already dangerous situation with North Korea from worsening further.

Biden, alongside South Korean President Yoon Seok Yul and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Friday. condemned the decision of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to send thousands of troops to help Moscow repel Ukrainian forces who have seized territory in the Russian border region of Kursk.

White House officials have expressed frustration with Beijing, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea's trade, for not doing more to rein in Pyongyang.

The North Koreans have also supplied Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials. And the United States, Japan and South Korea have expressed concern over Pyongyang's intensifying efforts. rate of ballistic missile tests.

Kim ordered testing exercises in the run-up to this month's U.S. election and claims progress in construction efforts. ability to strike the American continent.

Xi and Biden started their day at the leaders' retreat at the APEC summit, taking a photo where they all wore scarves made from vicuña wool, a symbolic animal for Peru. It is common for leaders of these gatherings to receive gifts of traditional clothing from the host country which they wear for the photo.

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