Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to media about the Democrats keeping the Senate before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
U.S. President Joe Biden smiles as he speaks about democratic control of the Senate before leaving his hotel to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
FILE – This combination image shows U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, Nov. 6, 2021, and China’s President Xi Jinping in Brasília, Brazil, Nov. 13, 2019. President Biden says he hopes to use an anticipated meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping to discuss growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, trade policies and Beijing’s relationship with Russia. The White House has said that it is working with Chinese officials to arrange a meeting between Biden and Xi on the sidelines of next week’s Group of 20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — There won’t be concessions from the U.S. side. No real deliverables, which is government-speak for specific achievements. Don’t expect a cheery joint statement, either.
During President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, the leaders will be circling each other to game out how to manage a relationship that the U.S. has determined poses the biggest economic and military threat.
At the same time, U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed that they see the two countries’ interactions as one of competition — and that they want to avoid conflict.
Here’s a look at what each side is hoping to achieve out of the leaders’ first in-person encounter as presidents, to be held on the island of Bali in Indonesia:
FOR THE UNITED STATES
Essentially, Biden and other U.S. officials are trying to understand where Xi really stands.
In a news conference shortly before leaving Washington, Biden said he wanted to “lay out … what each of our red lines are, understand what he believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States.”
That mission has become all the more imperative since the conclusion of the Community Party congress in Beijing, during which Xi secured a norm-breaking third term as leader, empowering him even further.
It’s a goal that will be much more readily achieved in person, White House officials say, despite Biden and Xi’s five video or phone calls during the U.S. president’s term.
Biden told reporters on Sunday that he’s “always had straightforward discussions” with Xi, and that has prevented either of them from “miscalculations” of their intentions.
“I know him well, he knows me,” Biden said. “We’ve just got to figure out where the red lines are and what are the most important things to each of us, going into the next two years.”
The U.S. president will want to send a message to Xi on White House concerns about China’s economic practices. Taiwan is sure to come up, and Biden will want to emphasize to Xi that the U.S. will stand ready to defend the self-governing island should it come under attack by China. Biden also will seek to make clear his concerns about Beijing’s human rights practices, as he has in their previous interactions.
Biden will also use the meeting to press for a more aggressive posture from Xi on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese leader has largely refrained from public criticism of Vladimir Putin’s actions while declining to actively aid Moscow by supplying arms.
“We believe that, of course, every country in the world should do more to prevail upon Russia, especially those who have relationships with Russia, to end this war and leave Ukraine,” said U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Finally, U.S. officials say they’re eager to see where the two superpowers could actually collaborate. Though there are numerous areas in which Biden and Xi won’t see eye to eye, the White House has listed several issues where they conceivably could, including health, counternarcotics and climate change.
FOR CHINA
Xi has yet to give a wish list for talks with Biden, but Beijing wants U.S. action on trade and Taiwan.
Perhaps most importantly, the Group of 20 gathering in Bali and the meeting with Biden give China’s most powerful leader in decades a stage to promote his country’s image as a global player and himself as a history-making figure who is restoring its rightful role as an economic and political force.
China pursues “increasingly assertive foreign and security policies aimed at changing the international status quo,” Kevin Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who is president of the Asia Society, wrote in Foreign Affairs. That has strained relations with Washington, Europe and China’s Asian neighbors, but Xi is unfazed and looks set to be more ambitious abroad.
The meeting is “an important event of China’s head-of-state diplomacy toward the Asia Pacific,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. He said Xi will “deliver an important speech” on economic growth.
Zhao called on the Biden administration to “stop politicizing” trade and embrace Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy that split with the mainland in 1949 and never has been part of the People’s Republic of China.
Beijing wants Washington to lift tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2019 and to pull back on increasing restrictions on Chinese access to processor chips and other U.S. technology. Biden has left most of those in place and added curbs on access to technology that American officials say can be used in weapons development.
“The United States needs to stop politicizing, weaponizing and ideologizing trade issues,” Zhao said.
Xi’s government has stepped up efforts to intimidate the elected government of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen by flying fighter planes near the island and firing missiles into the sea.
Beijing broke off talks with Washington on security, climate cooperation and other issues after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August in a show of support for its government.
“The United States needs to stop obscuring, hollowing out and distorting the ‘one-China principle,’” said Zhao, referring to Beijing’s stance that Taiwan is obligated to join the mainland under Communist Party leadership.
Another goal for Xi: Don’t get COVID-19.
The G-20 will be only Xi’s second foreign trip in 2 1/2 years while his government enforces a severe “Zero COVID” strategy that shut down cities and kept most visitors out of China.
Xi broke that moratorium by attending a September summit with Putin and Central Asian leaders. But he skipped a dinner and photo session where Putin and others wore no masks.
McDonald reported from Beijing.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Most races likely to decide control of the House and Senate are still too close to call. Follow our continuous updates of the midterm elections here: Livestream video, latest data and all the results!
As Election Night bleeds into the next morning, control of Congress remains unclear. It’s not a presidential year, but these are high-stakes elections nonetheless. While there were some races the AP could call as soon as polls close, other winners are taking a lot longer to identify. AP’s VoteCast surveys indicate high inflation and worries about the future of American democracy were significant factors in voters’ decisions.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker will meet in a Dec. 6 runoff in Georgia after neither reached the general election majority required under state law.
New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping “almost all” the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone.
Control of Congress still hangs in the balance, with both parties notching victories in a midterm election centered on voter frustration over inflation, abortion rights and more. But despite huge spending, it’s unclear the eventual outcome changes much in Washington.
At least 11 Russian soldiers have been killed in a shooting incident that underlines the challenges posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hasty mobilization. Saturday’s shooting at a firing range in Russia’s western Belgorod region came just as Ukrainian troops pressed an offensive to reclaim the areas in southern Ukraine illegally annexed by Moscow. As fighting raged, a missile strike also seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region. Following mounting setbacks, the Russian military has worked to cut off power and water in far-flung populated areas while also fending off Ukrainian counterattacks in occupied or partially occupied areas.
Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson say power is being partially restored following what they have called a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” on power lines. The southern city was cut off from power and water supplies on Sunday after three power lines were damaged in the region that Moscow illegally annexed in September. Ukrainian officials have not responded to the allegations, although officials have previously claimed that Russia was deliberately turning off the power in order to force civilians to evacuate in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake the city. Rolling blackouts around Ukraine continued on Monday.
President Joe Biden says he is feeling “really good” about Democrats’ chances in the midterm elections, even as he traveled to the Chicago area to support two House members who are facing more competitive reelection battles than expected. Biden says he is “not buying the notion” that Democrats are in trouble. He spoke at a political reception in a hotel for U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten. The president ticked off his administration’s signature legislative achievements on infrastructure, climate and lowering the cost of prescription drugs, efforts he said were achieved in collaboration with Underwood and Casten.
Russian and Ukrainian troops appear to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson. That’s in a region where Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared martial law, after illegally annexing it. Fighting and evacuations were reported in the region as Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure. Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on Wednesday in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as he faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilization and increasing domestic and international criticism and sanctions. Ukrainian forces mounted 15 attacks on Russian military strongholds in Kherson.
Voters in the U.S. who go on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook or other platforms to learn about Tuesday’s pivotal midterm elections are likely to encounter rumors, hearsay and misinformation. Experts who study misinformation say users can learn to navigate social media without falling for misleading claims. They urge people to rely on local and state election officials and trustworthy news outlets. Be suspicious of claims that provoke a strong emotional reaction, or rely on false comparisons or one-sided arguments. Be skeptical of social media posts that take isolated election mistakes out of context, and double-check suspicious claims before reposting them.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to media about the Democrats keeping the Senate before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
U.S. President Joe Biden smiles as he speaks about democratic control of the Senate before leaving his hotel to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
FILE – This combination image shows U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, Nov. 6, 2021, and China’s President Xi Jinping in Brasília, Brazil, Nov. 13, 2019. President Biden says he hopes to use an anticipated meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping to discuss growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, trade policies and Beijing’s relationship with Russia. The White House has said that it is working with Chinese officials to arrange a meeting between Biden and Xi on the sidelines of next week’s Group of 20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.