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Can the Island of the Gods pacify Xi and Biden?
The rivalry between China and the United States has increased dramatically in the past year, threatening global peace in far more ways than the tension between Washington and Moscow.
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United States President Joe Biden (left) speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (on screen) from the White House in Washington, DC, on March 18. (AFP/The White House)
Indonesia’s foremost tourist destination Bali is the perfect setting for the first-ever in-person meeting between President Xi Jinping of China and President Joe Biden of the United States. The leaders of the two most powerful nations on Earth could not have chosen a better venue than the Island of Gods to explore paths of peace, or at least ways of deescalating the tensions that have been budding.
Whatever religious persuasion Xi and Biden follow, if any, any push from the Hindu spirits that live on Bali is most welcome, for the sake of global peace.
It is commendable that Xi and Biden took time aside for their meeting on Monday, ahead of the Group of 20 Summit, which kicks off on Tuesday, rather than on the sidelines of the summit. Given its importance, their meeting has been widely anticipated and is attracting huge media attention.
Holding the meeting earlier has prevented it from stealing the show from the two-day G20 Summit, which will discuss a host of other equally important issues, such as the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food and energy crises, the potential global economic recession and the Russian-Ukraine war.
The rivalry between China and the US has increased dramatically in the past year and is threatening global peace in far more ways than the tension between Washington and Moscow, which already erupted in February with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xi and Biden should learn a thing or two from the war in Ukraine to prevent their relations from turning into a full-scale war.
Both leaders came to Bali after undergoing some political processes at home that changed their respective strengths. How this plays out in Bali and beyond is the subject of many analyses, but only time will tell.
At the Chinese Communist Party Congress in October, Xi reaffirmed his strongman status, extending his rule for another five years and making changes in the leadership composition to secure his grip on power. He comes to Bali with so much more power than he would have otherwise.
Biden has not exactly been weakened by the results of last week’s mid-term elections. His Democratic Party retains control of the Senate but looks likely to lose control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans by a slim margin. Since the Republicans are equally gung-ho, if not more so when it comes to dealing with China, Xi may find in his dealings that the US speak two different languages, one from the Biden administration, and another from the House. Biden has not been weakened, but the dynamics in the US policy toward China would certainly change.
Whatever they discussed in Bali, the two leaders need to publicly back off from their respective positions on Taiwan, which are teetering on the brink of war. They can keep their trade wars and their race to build power and influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. After all, this is what superpowers do. But they should draw the line on Taiwan.
Xi needs to stop talking about unification with the island that Beijing considers a renegade province. Biden for his part should go back to the long-held US policy of strategic ambiguity over Taiwan. His repeated declarations that US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion are not helping to ease the tension.
Thankfully Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, will likely be out of the picture now. Her visit to Taiwan in August, led to China conducting military exercises around the island. We hope Kevin McCarthy, the probable incoming speaker from the Republican Party, would not be as reckless.
Even before Taiwan became the most contentious point in the US-China rivalry, the world was already polarizing with many nations aligning with one or the other power according to their perceived national interests. Some nations, including Indonesia, however, are steering the middle path and working hard to prevent the emergence of a bipolar world in which the two powers dictate the course of world development.
More countries in the Indo-Pacific region should join in this Indonesian endeavor – joining one or the other power will only escalate the tension. We need to have more faith in diplomacy.
The G20 as a club of the largest economies in the world is an important supplement to the United Nations as a multilateral platform to get the US and China engaged and resolve differences. But Indonesia and the G20 can only do so much.
The future of the region, and the world, is in the hands of Xi and Biden. And maybe with a little help from the spirits in Bali.
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The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.
