US, China display stark contrast in final meeting before transition

On November 16, during his last meeting with US President Joe Biden, Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed his willingness to work with the new administration, maintain cooperation and manage differences.

Biden called the U.S.-China relationship the most important in the world and reiterated his oft-repeated remark that the United States and China “cannot let any of these rivalries escalate into conflict.”

Pledges aside, when VOA took a closer look at what Biden and Xi had to say during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, it found that there was a stark contrast between what Xi was saying and what China was saying. actions and facts on the ground.

Cyber ​​threats

During his meeting with Xi, Biden raised deep concerns about Chinese state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting critical civilian infrastructure and threatening the safety and security of Americans.

In response, Xi said there was no evidence supporting what he called the irrational claim that cyberattacks were being carried out from China.

However, for years US intelligence agencies and cybersecurity experts have regularly traced cyberattacks to Beijing. Many threat actors are not only affiliated with the Chinese state, but controlled by it. China has also compromised telecommunications companies and managed IT service providers.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence Annual Threat Assessment 2024 The report identifies China as the most active and persistent cyber threat to the U.S. government, private sector and critical infrastructure networks.

That report referred to PRC operations that were likely intended to preposition cyberattacks against Guam, a western Pacific island and the closest U.S. territory to Taiwan.

The 2024 Microsoft Digital Defense Report said Beijing's long-term focus on controlling Taiwan had prompted Chinese threat actors to conduct a high level of targeting against Taiwan-based companies.

China has targeted military and cyber entities in the South China Sea region.

In July 2021, the United States and its allies accused Beijing of facilitating the cyberattack on Microsoft Exchange email server software and other ransomware attacks.

Last week, the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency revealed that Chinese state-affiliated actors were conducting a large and significant cyberespionage campaign targeting commercial telecommunications infrastructure in the United States.

Beijing has also become more aggressive in its influence operations aimed at swaying U.S. elections.

Ukraine

More than 1,000 days after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Biden called for Beijing's “continued support for Russia's defense industrial base.”

Xi said China is making every effort for peace and asserted that Beijing's position and actions on the Ukraine issue have always been fair and square.

However, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization considers China a “decisive catalyst” for Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

China, through its “boundless friendship with Russia, has provided Moscow with diplomatic cover for its war and significantly supports Russia’s ability to produce armaments.”

The United States says China has increased sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies used to produce weapons and weapons systems that Moscow deploys in Ukraine.

US intelligence services declassified estimates that around 90% of Russian microelectronics used to make missiles, tanks and planes came from China in 2023.

The report said China supplied Russia with 70% of the machine tools that could be used to make ballistic missiles.

China has also stepped up trade with Russia, particularly oil and gas imports, to support Russia's flagging economy and mitigate the impact of Western sanctions.

Taiwan

Biden told Xi that the United States opposed any unilateral change to the status quo from either side and called for any disputes to be resolved peacefully. reflecting nearly half a century of American politics. He further called on China to end its destabilizing military activities around Taiwan. Beijing has indicated its desire to retake Taiwan by force.

Drawing a red line around Taiwan, a democratically autonomous island that China claims as its territory, Xi called on the United States to unequivocally oppose Taiwan's independence and support China's peaceful reunification.

Beijing has often confused its one-China principle, that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China, with the United States' one-China policy.

Although the United States recognizes China's claim that Taiwan is part of China and recognizes Beijing as the sole legal government of China, the One China Policy does not take a position on Taiwan's status.

As China becomes increasingly bellicose toward Taiwan with increased air incursions, threatening propaganda, and drills simulating attacks on Taiwan, US approved multi-billion arms sales to Taiwan.

China says this undermines its sovereignty and threatens peace in the region, calling on the United States to see clearly “the true nature of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing considers a separatist.”

Lai said it was up to the people of Taiwan to decide their future. He repeatedly offered to hold talks, which Beijing rejected.

Human rights

China's inclusion of democracy and human rights among its red lines is part of Beijing's long-standing efforts to redefine popular understanding of these concepts and to stifle criticism of the rules and regulations. abuses by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

Beijing has both argued that human rights vary from country to country, while asserting that China respects the core principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR.

However, the CCP systematically violates the rights and freedoms set out in the UDHR, particularly freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and privacy.

The UDHR also states that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude.

Body of evidence shows China subjected Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its northwest Xinjiang region to mass surveillance, internment, forced sterilization, torture, violence sexual exploitation, forced labor, religious repression and other forms of cultural erasure.

Beijing has also engaged in systematic repression and cultural erasure in the Tibet Autonomous Region.