When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at San Francisco International Airport, an advance White House team led by Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell, responsible for every detail of Xi’s visit to the United States. Coordinating with San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed, the City Council and Board of Supervisors, they know the path of Xi’s motorcade from the airport and every possible location Xi would see from his motorcade. “There is no detail that is too small,” Campbell said, reflecting on how the homeless encampments and drug addicts must be removed from San Francisco street to spare the U.S. any embarrassment, especially to world leaders like Xi. “Those will be the pictures that will be beamed back home,” said Victor Cha, former National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs. Xi’s press crew must protect the image of Xi visiting America, rolling out the red carpet.
All the pomp-and-circumstance of Xi’s first visit to the U.S. in six years must be flawless in terms of appearances, all the way from the airport to any destinations, not disclosed to any news organization for Xi’s security. “Nothing can go wrong. It has to be 100% perfect,” Cha said. Xi must be “treated like an emperor and anything short of that or embarrassing is really the absolute worst thing that can happen for them,” Cha confirmed. Getting rid of homeless and any other blight is top priority for the White House advance crew working to make Xi’s visit a stunning success. Xi plans to meet with Biden, trying to work on anything possible to pretend that U.S.-Chinese relations are back to normal, when, in fact, Biden has created the worst conditions every seen in U.S.-Chinese relations. On Feb. 4, 2023, Biden ordered the Pentagon F-22 fighter jets to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon.
What good is all the show if Biden can’t agree with Xi on basic issues, like how to deal with Taiwan. Biden threw U.S.-Chinese relations into chaos saying Sept. 27, 2022 he would send U.S. troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Beijing invasion. Signing PR deals about AI on nuclear weapons or on limiting chemical in Fentanyl are all fine but it the two leaders can’t develop trust that nothing can get done about improving U.S.-Chinese relations. Biden needs Xi to show he’s still and effective leader during an election years but he hasn’t talked to Xi since Nov. 15, 2022 G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 61, and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have done everything to alienate China since taking their jobs in 2021. Biden claims he wants to open better communication with China but only on his terms.
When it comes AI and nuclear weapons, it’s a good thing to agree that nuclear weapons should be managed by humans, not robots or computer algorithms. But what Xi really wants is for Biden to back off on humanitarian complaints about China, focusing instead on business development between the I/S. and China. If Biden really wants to reinstate normal relations with China, he needs to end the Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin. Xi put forward a peace plan back in February that would send the conflict to the peace table for resolution. Xi is a close ally of 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejecting all of Biden’s pressure to denounce Putin. Biden doesn’t accept that Xi sees the U.S. at fault for arming Ukraine against Putin’s objections in the lead up to war. If Biden wants more than widow dressing in an election year, he needs to end the Ukraine War.
Getting relations back on track involves more that token gestures with AI or the Fentanyl crisis. Biden must accept the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act signed into law by former President Jimmy Carter, serving as a blueprint for U.S.-Chinese relations. Whatever happens with Taiwan, Biden must accept that he must accept Beijing’s wished on Taiwan, including any effort at unification of the Island of Formosa. Whatever the past with the 1949 Maoist Revolution, China can agree with Taiwan, just like they do in Hong Kong, to allow the Island of Formosa to function independently of Beijing. Hong Kong officials, though not tolerating pro-democracy dissent, still allow the Cantonese to operate independently of the mainland. Xi wants assurances from Biden that he’ll follow the Taiwan Relations Act. Threatening to commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan threw Xi for a loop.
Biden wants the photo-op with Xi at the ASEAN summit in San Francisco but doesn’t want to make any substantive changes to U.S. foreign policy, including ending the Ukraine War and normalizing relations with Putin. Biden has put the U.S. out on limb over Ukraine, realizing the China and India do not back Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin. Xi sees Biden’s belligerent stance toward Moscow and comparable to his attitude toward Beijing. Biden went behind Xi’s baack to develop a NATO-like coalition in the Indo-Pacific to confront what Biden sees as Chinese aggression in the South China Sean and Taiwan Strait. Finding common ground on AI or Fentanyl can’t erase the deal-breaking disagreement about the Ukraine War and sending U.S. carrier strike groups in the South China Sea. Xi wants to see Biden show respect to China by staying out of the Indo-Pacific region, especially the South China Sea.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
