HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

View In Browser

Nectar Gan and Steve George

 

Biden-Xi meeting yielded no major breakthroughs. But Beijing has already claimed victory

 

 

 

The very fact US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are now talking is itself a significant breakthrough.

 

US-China relations, which came to a near total breakdown during the final year of President Donald Trump's term, had descended into open hostility during more recent high-level bilateral meetings — including March's now infamous Alaska Summit, during which diplomats from both sides traded barbs.

 

And though Monday's virtual summit between the two leaders saw no substantive policy on key issues such as climate, trade, the pandemic, or arms control, it did establish a dialogue that can be built on, potentially easing tensions — and allowing for a return to a more constructive, stable relationship.

 

Already there are signs this is bearing fruit, with reports emerging late Tuesday that China and the US have agreed to relax visa restrictions on each other's journalists.

 

But while the mood music coming from both countries is undoubtedly positive, a closer examination suggests Beijing felt it had more to cheer.

 

"Biden reiterates he doesn't support Taiwan independence!" proclaimed the first headline to appear on Chinese state media after the summit. A related hashtag soon became the top trending topic on Weibo, China's heavily-censored version of Twitter, attracting more than 200 million views.

 

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views "reunification" with Taiwan — a self-ruling democracy it has never governed — as a key unresolved issue on China's path toward its "great rejuvenation."

 

That a US President would potentially agree with China's view on this issue is therefore a big propaganda win. But according to a readout of the meeting from the White House, that's not quite what Biden said — in fact he didn't mention independence at all.

 

"On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States remains committed to the 'one China' policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the White House said.

 

In what is known as the US "one China" policy, Washington acknowledges Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never endorsed the CCP's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. It maintains close unofficial ties with Taipei, and is obligated to support the island with the means to defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act.

 

A 3,900-characters readout released by China's Foreign Ministry again cited Biden as saying the US does not support Taiwan independence, but it did not mention Washington's strong stance against "unilateral efforts to change the status quo."

 

Instead, it showed Xi taking a direct swipe — and making a veiled threat — at Washington.

 

According to the Chinese readout, Xi blamed rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait on what he called Taipei's attempt to "rely on the US to seek independence," as well as "the intention of some Americans to use Taiwan to contain China."

 

"Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burnt," Xi told Biden, according to the Chinese readout.

 

"We have patience and will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts. However, if the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces provoke, compel or even cross the red line, we will have to take drastic measures," Xi added.

 

Such strong rhetoric is likely to resonate with China's domestic audience, many of whom staunchly support unification with Taiwan.

 

Xi further cemented his power at a key Communist Party meeting last week, paving the way to secure a third term and beyond in office. And now, he is portrayed domestically as having emerged triumphantly from the meeting with Biden, too.

 

"Of course, in China, they have to claim victory. That's why they emphasized that the Biden administration has reiterated its opposition to Taiwan independence," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert on Chinese politics at Hong Kong Baptist University.

 

For Beijing, the optics of the meeting is at least as important as its content.

In the Chinese capital, the virtual summit was held in a gold-painted, red-carpeted hall in the Great Hall of the People. Xi and Biden's faces appeared side by side on a massive screen livestreaming the meeting, while Chinese leaders, including Xi himself, sat meters away in a row on the other side of the room — a markedly different setup from what US officials had in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

 

According to the Chinese readout, Xi likened China and the US to two giant ships at sea, each needing to be steered steadily to avoid collision.

"In a sense, it gives China a lot of face, a lot of status — great power status. Biden has accepted to talk to China on an equal footing, mentioning the key issues both countries need to tackle together, from climate change, North Korea to Afghanistan," Cabestan said.

 

And for Xi, building bridges with Biden and attempting to bring bilateral relations on a more normal track helps his domestic political agenda too.

 

"President Xi of course, is moving into a very political year," said Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, citing Xi's attempt to seek an unprecedented third term in power at the 20th Party Congress next fall.

 

"So this (will be) an important year and President Xi I think, will largely be focused on removing those risks and those uncertainties in the US-China relationship so that he can really focus on the domestic politics in preparing for the party congress," Haenle said.

 

Clearly, it's in Xi's best interests to minimize risks ahead of the congress and establish a stable US-China relationship — putting up guardrails to prevent unforeseen incidents from spilling into conflict.

 

Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said domestic factors will likely play an outsized role for both leaders in the coming year.

 

"Neither leader will want to be seen as softening his approach toward the other, but at the same time, neither leader will see profit in allowing the relationship to escalate significantly beyond current levels of tension," he said.

"As such, the relationship likely will navigate between a pretty firm floor and ceiling over the coming year."

Head for heights

Construction work continued Monday on a skyscraper that's set to be the tallest in central China upon its expected completion next year. At 476 meters (1,562 feet), the Wuhan Greenland Center will however be some way off the country's tallest building — Shanghai Tower, which stands at 632 meters (2,073 feet).

Chinese authorities are ramping up a crackdown on crypto mining, calling it an "extremely harmful" practice that threatens to jeopardize the country's efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

 

National Development and Reform Commission spokesperson Meng Wei blasted bitcoin mining during a news conference Tuesday in Beijing. She said the activity "consumes lots of energy" and "produces lots of carbon emissions."

 

Meng said the NDRC — the country's top economic planner — will launch a "full-scale" clampdown on cryptocurrency mining by focusing on commercial mining and the role of state-owned businesses in the industry. She also said that crypto production and trade produces "prominent risks," and she blasted the industry as "blind and disorderly."

 

As part of its new push, the NDRC said it would raise electricity prices for any institution found to be abusing its access to subsidized power to participate in crypto mining. Authorities have traditionally offered schools, community centers, or other public welfare institutions lower prices for electricity.

 

This is not the first time this year that Beijing has pledged to crack down on crypto mining.

 

China has intensified its efforts to clamp down on cryptocurrency since May, when it banned crypto trading and said it would scrutinize mining operations in the country.

 

China accounts for more than 75% of bitcoin mining around the world, according to research published by the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications in April.

 

Beijing is taking aim at crypto for a few reasons.

 

Authorities see the currencies as a big financial risk, and as a way that people can evade strict national controls on capital, and want to reign in such practices. The restrictions on decentralized currencies like bitcoin also comes as the government rolls out a digital version of the yuan, which would allow China's central bank to exercise more control over the flow and exchange of money.

 

Beijing is also trying to meet a climate target to become carbon neutral by 2060, and crypto mining could threaten that. The practice is energy-intensive and consumes a lot of computer power, as it requires machines to solve complex series of algorithms to verify transactions. China is already struggling with a severe power shortage, which has affected millions of households and factories with power rationing.

Around Asia

• Manny Pacquiao told CNN he will seek corruption charges against some of his former political allies within the Duterte government if he wins the Philippine presidential election.
• At least eight people have been arrested in western India after a 16-year-old girl claimed she was raped hundreds of times.
• A group of Australian women — some of whom were subjected to invasive medical examinations after authorities found an abandoned baby at Doha airport — plan to sue the Qatar government their lawyer confirmed.