Chinese President Xi Jinping has held his final meeting with his outgoing counterpart in the United States, Democrat Joe Biden.
But Xi’s words on Saturday seemed directed not simply at Biden but at his Republican successor, returning President Donald Trump.
In his encounter with Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, Xi emphasised the importance of the US and China maintaining “mutual respect”.
While Xi did not mention Trump by name, he gave a nod to the incoming US president’s victory in the November 5 election. “The United States has recently concluded its elections. China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged,” Xi said.
But, he warned, “If we take each other as rival or adversary, pursue vicious competition and seek to hurt each other, we would roil the relationship or even set it back.” Trump, who served as president previously from 2017 to 2021, oversaw a period of heightened tensions with China, including a trade war sparked by his imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods. China responded with its own tariffs and trade restrictions, though experts warned that the escalation on both sides damaged the two countries’ economies.
On Saturday, Xi appeared to extend a hand of friendship to Trump, encouraging their countries to work together for mutual gain. “China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” he said.
