Biden, in recent meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum

2024-11-17 18:41:40, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima, Peru, US President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is their last meeting as President Biden ends his term and world leaders prepare for the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in January. VOA correspondent Patsy Widakuswara followed President Biden's meetings in Lima, Peru.

President Joe Biden on Saturday joined world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima, Peru. His term ends in January.

As part of his concluding tour, President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The United States and China are rivals on many issues, including their role in the world order. President Biden said that while they don't always agree, they have been honest with each other.

" We were direct with each other. I think this is vital. These conversations prevent miscalculations and ensure that the competition between our two countries does not turn into conflict ," President Biden said.

" China and the United States should consider the interest of the whole world and inject more security and positive energy into the troubled world ," the Chinese president said.

President Biden has in the past called Chinese President Xi a "dictator," while Mr. Xi has accused the United States of being the world's "greatest source of chaos." But both leaders have emphasized the importance of stability and over the past four years have generally managed to manage the complicated rivalry. They agreed to resume communications between the military structures at the high-level meeting in 2023, which followed the 2022 high-level meeting.

Now that Americans have voted to return President-elect Donald Trump to power, Beijing is preparing for unpredictability.

In his first term as president, Mr. Trump started a trade war with China. This year, he threatened to impose tariffs of up to 60% on all Chinese imports and 10 to 20% on goods from the rest of the world.

Diplomats attending APEC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed concern that the United States could become more protectionist and isolationist under the new administration of President-elect Trump, who withdrew from trade and other deals while was on duty.

Hours before meeting with President Biden, Chinese leader Xi presented himself as a defender of "multilateralism and an open economy." He began his tour of South America by inaugurating a major port in Peru — a $1.3 billion investment by Beijing that is trying to expand trade and influence on the continent. The United States says it is investing more in Peru, with an estimated $6.6 billion invested through 2023.

" Throughout our private sector and already with the support of structures like the Development Finance Corporation, we are investing in a wide range of technology, infrastructure, energy, health and other projects and we are a very important player ," he told the Voice of America, National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, during the plane ride.

From Lima, President Biden traveled Sunday to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 high-level meeting, with a brief stop in the Brazilian Amazon to provide comments on climate change./ VOA