The Specter of a New World Order

Important talks between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping took place, and the whole world watched the meeting between the two world leaders. It is important to understand how fundamental the disagreements between the parties were and whether any consensus was reached on various issues. Therefore, let's analyze the progress in global security, regional issues, and the Ukrainian case.

First, it is worth noting that the meeting of the leaders of the world's most economically powerful countries took place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. As of today, the economies of the 21 APEC member countries produce more than 60% of global GDP. They account for almost half of world trade. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the largest source of global growth over the next 30 years. Therefore, the agreements reached during the summit will have an impact far beyond the Asia-Pacific region. And these agreements definitely have both purely economic and security components.

Secondly, the fact that the talks between the leaders of China and the United States took place on the territory of the United States, and not in a neutral country, indicates that China is interested in maintaining the status quo in relations with America and is ready to prioritize compromises on issues important to both countries over escalation of conflicts in relations between the two countries. 

Third, holding the APEC Summit at a time when the U.S. election campaign is already underway and incumbent President Joe Biden is demonstrating his willingness to seek a second term, sets an ambitious task for his administration: to prove to the world that under President Biden's leadership, America is great now, not somewhere in the future, and will continue to be so during his possible second term. To make this clear to both supporters and opponents of the Democratic president, it is important to demonstrate something so substantial and clear that it is impossible to argue with it. 

In terms of economic policy, as the US President noted in his opening remarks at the APEC summit, since the beginning of his administration, companies from the Asia-Pacific region have invested more than $200 billion in the United States. These are historic investments that have created literally tens of thousands of well-paying jobs. In total, since the beginning of Biden's term, 14 million jobs have been created across America in industries that will shape the future of the world: semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical materials, hydrogen hubs, and other critical and emerging technologies. 

US and Chinese Positions on the War in Ukraine and Other Conflicts

To record at least three victories: resolving the Taiwan crisis, ensuring Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia, and ending the next Arab-Israeli war are ambitious goals that could make the Democratic Party's position in the next U.S. presidential election invincible.

Following the talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the US President noted that the United States will always defend its interests, its values, as well as its allies and partners, and emphasized that the world expects the United States and China to manage competition responsibly in order to prevent it from escalating into conflict, confrontation, or a new Cold War.

The official White House statement said that the US and China will resume high-level military-to-military contacts, as well as defense policy coordination talks and meetings under the US-China Naval Consultative Agreement.

President Biden reaffirmed that the United States, along with its allies and partners, will continue to support Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression to ensure that Ukraine emerges from this war as a democratic, independent, sovereign, and prosperous country capable of deterring and defending itself against future aggression. 

Regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the President reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism and emphasized the importance of all countries using their influence to prevent the conflict from escalating and expanding. He also said that the United States is ready to work with China to address transnational challenges such as health security and debt and climate finance in developing and emerging markets.

The two leaders agreed that their teams will continue their diplomatic efforts and high-level engagement, including visits in both directions and ongoing working-level consultations in key areas, including trade, finance, arms control and non-proliferation, export controls, policy planning, agriculture, and issues related to people with disabilities, among others.

For her part, commenting on the outcome of the talks between the leaders of China and the United States, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that official Beijing would not change its position on Russia's war against Ukraine in connection with the talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "During the talks, the two sides exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest, such as the Ukrainian crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Mao said.

She noted that China's position on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East is clear and consistent. "We always stand on the side of honesty and justice, strive to promote peace and negotiations, as well as de-escalation of the situation," the diplomat emphasized.

In general, the presence or depth of contradictions between the United States and China can serve as a factor in the analysis to understand whether conflicts or contradictions that exist between the partners of these two powerful states in different regions of the world will be resolved quickly. Therefore, special attention should be paid to security and economic issues, because it is through the economy that China is supporting Russia's aggressive policy against Ukraine in a non-political, but still nonetheless, way. And, as President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted in his commentary for the French newspaper Le Monde, the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco was useful for Ukraine.