Biden’s China Policy Hinges on How Much Xi Is Willing to Give
So far, the Chinese president seems unwilling to change his hard-line stance to improve relations with the U.S.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (right) gestures to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden after listening to national anthems during a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug. 18, 2011.
Photo Illustration: 731; Photo: Getty Images
As Joe Biden settles into the White House, there’s been endless debate about what his China policy should, could, and will be. Yet it takes two superpowers to tango, so Xi Jinping’s approach to Biden will be every bit as critical as Biden’s to Xi—perhaps even more so. Any significant improvement in U.S.-China relations is impossible unless Xi is willing to dance.
Is he? We don’t know with any certainty. Xi doesn’t share very much about his thinking on U.S. policy. He rarely ever even mentions the U.S. by name. As with so much else in China, we’re stuck parsing Xi’s comments, dissecting his actions, and making some educated projections.