The first call with Xi Jinping a few days ago, the two talked for a rare 2 hours. Some analysts believe that this indicates that on some sensitive issues, the two sides may not want to give in to each other, it is difficult to reach a consensus. It is reported that Biden had revealed the inside story of Bo Xilai’s coup to Xi in his early years, which helped Xi clear a major obstacle before coming to power. For these two leaders, they are both old friendships and new conflicts, and future clashes are inevitable.
On Feb. 10, EST, President Biden had his first call with Xi since taking office. “Last night, I spoke with Xi Jinping for two hours straight,” he told the media on the 11th.
The Central News Agency reported that it was a rare long interaction for a U.S. president, and even when leaders meet face-to-face, it rarely lasts more than an hour.
During the call, Biden reiterated his top priority of protecting the American people and the freedom and openness of the Indo-Pacific region, and expressed concern about a number of sensitive issues, “including Beijing‘s coercive and unfair economic practices, its crackdown on Hong Kong, human rights violations in Xinjiang, and its growing coercive actions against the region, including Taiwan,” according to a statement released by the White House.
A press release in the Communist Party’s official media said Xi hoped for “win-win cooperation” with the United States, but stressed that the issues of Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan are internal affairs of the Communist Party and asked the Biden Administration to “act with caution.”
Biden responded with a tweet on the 11th, saying, “I told him (Xi Jinping) I would only work with him if it was good for the American people.”
According to current affairs commentator Zhong Yuan, Biden’s first call with Xi was similar to last week’s call between Blinken and Yang Jiechi, which was a call for the sake of a call. Beijing’s soft and hard approach, hoping that Biden would make changes soon, did not succeed, and the encounter between the two sides was quite limited.
In fact, Biden and Xi Jinping have had many interactions years ago. When Biden was vice president, he revealed inside information about Bo Xilai’s attempted coup plot to Xi, which indirectly helped Xi remove a major obstacle before he took office.
In February 2012, the Wang Lijun incident occurred. Wang Lijun, the former head of Chongqing’s Public Security Bureau, broke into the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and leaked to the U.S. government the inside story of a coup plot by then Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai and former Political and Legal Committee Secretary Zhou Yongkang to seize power.
On Feb. 14, Xi Jinping, then a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and vice president of the country, was visiting the United States, where he had been named as the next leader of the Communist Party. At that Time, according to U.S. media reports, Biden told Xi personally about Bo Xilai and others’ plans for a coup.
On Feb. 16, the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee met to discuss how to deal with Bo Xilai. Of the eight members of the CPC Standing Committee at the time, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Executive Vice Premier Li Keqiang and He Guoqiang of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection advocated taking down Bo Xilai.
The four members of Jiang Zemin’s faction – NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo, CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun and Political and Legal Committee Secretary Zhou Yongkang – opposed it, creating a 4-to-4 standoff.
In this situation, it was Biden’s prior “selling” of Bo’s coup to Xi Jinping that turned the tide in Zhongnanhai.
According to New Era’s issue 385, Xi Jinping, who was visiting the United States at the time, received a call from the Central Secretariat and cast a crucial vote in favor of Hu Jintao, saying that he supported Hu Jintao and others’ view to hold Bo Xilai accountable. The final vote was 5-4, passing the investigation of Bo Xilai. It also cleared a major obstacle before Xi came to power.
The current situation shows that Biden and Xi have old friendships but also new conflicts. After Biden came to power, he confirmed that the Chinese Communist Party is still the “most serious opponent” and maintained a tough stance on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
Xi Jinping, on the other hand, said that “confrontation” would be a “disaster” for the U.S. and China. According to the outside world, the remarks of the two leaders show that the two sides do not want to give way to each other, and in some areas it is difficult to reach a consensus, and future conflict is inevitable.
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