Xi, Biden and dialectic of the San Francisco jaw-jaw, By Hammeed M. Bello, PhD

China and the United States of America are, no doubt, two of the few leading countries in the world that hold the ace in calling the shots for world order. This is understandable. Both countries are alternate Presidents of the 15-member Security Council of the United Nations. The Presidency of the Council is usually held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states names. Besides, China and US are both the biggest economies of the world, accounting for a great percentage of the world’s wealth. This is going by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an estimate of the total value of finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders during a specified period, usually a year. GDP is popularly used to estimate the size of a country’s economy and its impact on the global economy. And as released by Investopedia.com, among the top 10 countries by nominal GDP as of 2022, the US accounted for $25.5 trillion with an annual growth rate of 2.1%, China recorded $18.0 trillion and an annual growth rate of 3.0%, while Japan trailed at third position with $4.3 trillion and a growth rate of 1.0%. If this growth rate trend continues, China may come much more closer to the US in GDP in the near future thereby changing the equation.

Besides, each of the two superpowers has a nuclear power arsenal, Science and Technology innovation endowments including Artificial Intelligence, and is consequently a controlling voice in charting world peace and order, even if to safeguard its economy from volatility and shocks in the face of global competitiveness. Demographically also, while China accounts for less than a quarter of the world population (17.72%), the US population is equivalent to 4.23% of the world total people who deserve to live in peace and harmony with one another. A 2023 UN estimates shows that India has overtaken China as most populated country in the world with 1,428,627,663 people (1.428 billion). According to the estimates, China is now second most populated country in the world with a figure of 1,425,671,352 (1.425 billion), while the USA is third with a population of 339,996,563 million people. Nigeria takes the sixth position with a population of 223,804,632 million.

To that extent, China and the US each has a stake in a more peaceful world while at the same time pursuing strategic interests across the globe. Apparently in pursuit of these strategic interests amid current turbulence in Palestine in the wake of Israel/Hamas war, the raging Russia versus Ukraine war, the lingering Taiwan question, trade barriers and the tension in balance of trade and balance of payments, and a host of other strategic National interests, President Biden invited President Xi to a meeting in San Francisco, United States of America to find a common ground around these strategic interests.

China assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council since November 1, 2023, and is expected to drive leadership for one month and then handover to a succeeding member of the council as tradition requires. The Presidency of the UN Security Council, which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, was first held by Australia at inception on 17 January 1946. The Security Council consists of ten elected members, and five permanent members that include China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation.

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At the November 15 meeting held at the instance of Biden, the two heads of state had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on strategic and crucial issues critical to China-U.S. relations and on major issues affecting world peace and development.
For his part, President Xi Jinping noted that China and the United States are faced with two options in the era of global transformations never seen in a century. One, he said, is to enhance solidarity and cooperation and join hands to meet global challenges and promote global security and prosperity. The other, he said, is to cling to the “zero-sum mentality”, provoke rivalry and confrontation, and drive the world toward turmoil and division. The two choices point to two different directions that will decide the future of humanity and Planet Earth, Xi said. This suggestion of alternative choices by Xi, to my mind, is rooted in the crises in Ukraine and Gaza where backstage actors have been fuelling the crisis by supplying arms along with inflammatory rhetorics of escalation, rather than mitigation, which have continued to fan the embers of the war, instead of dousing the fire. To my mind, Xi’s diplomacy of nonviolence is what the world needs now to preserve the sanctity of human lives and create more peaceful atmosphere for humanity to prosper and excel.

Specifically, Xi was opposed to China and the United States turning their back on each other. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, he noted, and that conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides and must be avoided. “Major-country competition cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world. The world is big enough to accommodate both countries, and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.”

President Xi Jinping said that mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the lessons learned from 50 years of China-U.S. relations as well as the conflicts between major countries in history. He proposed for the two sides to assume a new vision and build together five pillars for China-U.S. relations.

First, while proposing for both countries to jointly develope a right perception, Xi maintained that China is consistently committed to having a stable, healthy and sustainable relationship with the United States. At the same time, he said China has interests that must be safeguarded, principles that must be upheld, and red lines that must not be crossed.
Second, he called for both sides to jointly manage disagreements effectively and that such disagreements should not create divisions that keep the two countries apart.

Third, he called for jointly advancing mutually beneficial cooperation because China and the United States have broad common interests in a wide range of areas such as the economy, trade and agriculture, as well as emerging areas such as climate change, artificial intelligence (AI) and science and technology.
Fourth, he said China and the US should jointly shoulder responsibilities as major countries. The problems facing human society cannot be solved without cooperation between major countries.
Fifth, he made case for jointly promoting people-to-people exchanges. The two sides should increase scheduled flights, advance tourism cooperation, expand subnational exchanges, strengthen cooperation in education and disability affairs, reduce negative factors hindering people-to-people exchanges, and encourage and support greater interactions and communication between their peoples, to cement the foundation for the healthy development of China-U.S. relations.

President Xi Jinping placed emphasis on China’s principled position on the Taiwan question. China, he said, takes seriously the positive statements made by the United States in the Bali meeting and urged the U.S. side to take real actions to honor its commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence”, stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable, he said.

President Xi Jinping noted also that U.S. actions against China regarding export control, investment screening and unilateral sanctions seriously hurt China’s legitimate interests. Development of China is innovation-driven. Stifling China’s technological progress is nothing but a move to contain China’s high-quality development and deprive the Chinese people of their right to development. China’s development and growth, driven by its own inherent logic, will not be stopped by external forces. It is important that the U.S. side takes China’s concerns seriously and adopt tangible steps to lift its unilateral sanctions so as to provide an equal, fair and nondiscriminatory environment for Chinese businesses.

President Joe Biden for his part noted that he has always believed that the U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. Conflict between the two countries is not inevitable. A stable and growing China is good for the United States and the whole world. When the Chinese economy grows, it benefits the United States and the world. When the United States and China keep their relations stable, prevent conflict, manage differences, and cooperate in areas of shared interest, they will be better able to handle the issues facing themselves and common challenges. Biden reaffirmed the five commitments he made in Bali, i.e., the United States does not seek a new Cold War, does not seek to change China’s system, does not seek to revitalize its alliances against China, does not support “Taiwan independence”, and has no intention to have a conflict with China. The two economies are mutually dependent. The United States is glad to see prosperity in China. It does not seek to contain or suppress China’s development or to decouple with China. The United States adheres to the one-China policy, welcomes dialogue between government agencies at various levels, and is ready to maintain open and candid communication with China to increase understanding, avoid misperceptions and manage differences. The United States is ready to keep growing economic and trade relations and strengthen cooperation with China in such important areas as fighting climate change, counternarcotics and AI. The U.S. side is glad to see more direct flights and more educational, scientific and technological and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

The two heads of state exchanged views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other international and regional issues of mutual concern. It will be recalled that during Mao Zedong’s era, Beijing considered the Palestinian struggle for land to be part of the world’s national liberation movement, according to Hongda Fan, a Professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.

“The understanding of the Palestinian Question still largely stems from this perception,” Fan told Al Jazeera.

In 1965, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was allowed to open a diplomatic mission in China, and upgraded to an embassy in 1974. Beijing was believed to be an ally of the PLO for a time in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the Beirut-based Institute for Palestine Studies, and has recognised the State of Palestine since 1988.

However, China has also expanded its ties with Israel without prejudice to its ties with Palestine. China established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992 and has since invested billions in its economy, with a measure of investments in the Palestinian territories though not in equal proportion.

All eyes are on China and the USA as leaders of the world to see whether the outcome of the San Francisco parley will give rise to a more peaceful and prosperous world, or it will be more chaotic and deadly as we already see in Ukraine and Gaza. The world keeps a tab on the commitments made by both sides, and any default in the Memorandum of Understanding will definitely form part of history.

[Monday Column in Peoples Daily by Hammeed M. Bello, PhD. He can be reached via hamdbelo@yahoo.co.uk]