Text | Li Zizhen
The G20 Summit kicked off today (15 November) in Bali, Indonesia, with China's top leaders and US President Joe Biden meeting on the sidelines in Bali yesterday, the first face-to-face meeting with a top Chinese leader since Biden became president, lasting about three hours. Biden reiterated the importance of direct communication between the leaders of the two countries, and China's top leader also frankly said that the relationship between the two countries is now "not in line with the expectations of the international community", hoping that the two sides will work together to bring China-US relations back on track. China's top leader stressed that the Taiwan issue is the core of China's core interests, the foundation of the political foundation of Sino-US relations, and the first insurmountable red line in Sino-US relations. This is like a twilight drum morning bell and a daigo empowerment, which shocks the deaf.
Biden said that the United States respects China's system, does not seek to change China's system, does not seek a "new cold war", does not seek to oppose China by strengthening alliances, does not support "Taiwan independence", does not support "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan", and has no intention of conflict with China. The United States also has no intention of seeking "decoupling" from China, obstructing China's economic development, or encircling China. Biden said that the US government pursues a one-China policy, does not seek to use the Taiwan issue as a tool to contain China, and hopes to see peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
"I know him, he knows me... All we have to do is figure out where the red lines are. This "red line theory" is the highlight of the Sino-US meeting. Beijing has repeatedly stressed that Taiwan is the core of the Sino-US relationship, and once the red line is crossed, China will do whatever it takes to deal with the invading enemy to the end.
Sino-US relations have become sharply strained since the Trump era, and fell to a freezing point when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. Media reports from many countries have focused on whether this meeting is the first step towards a prospect of easing Sino-US relations. Comprehensive Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse reported that Biden will seek to lay the foundation for relations between the two countries to strengthen communication in a responsible and pragmatic manner, and the meeting between the leaders of the two countries has also received widespread support. Russia's "Russia Today" (RT) website reported on the 13th that as US-China relations are at the lowest point in recent memory, Biden and China's top leaders gathered together on Monday, hoping to clearly draw boundaries and let each other abide by these boundaries to avoid a potentially catastrophic conflict between the two world powers.
Haass, chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a U.S. think tank, acknowledged that the United States needs a sensible and disciplined policy toward Taiwan. The United States should continue to adhere to the one-China policy and not allow unilateral actions. Haas stressed that working together to build a modern relationship between the United States and China is also critical. He pointed out that it was diplomatic negligence and mistake to let the most important bilateral relationship of our time continue to drift. He called for a high-level dialogue between the United States and China to address the most important regional and global issues, which should be a high priority; And changing Chinese politics shouldn't be a priority, because it proves impossible and hurts bilateral relations.
Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Vivian has also pointed out: "From the perspective of a dispassionate third country, the key factor missing in the US-China relationship is strategic trust." I think the ultimate focus of this issue is the Taiwan Strait, which is the reddest of Beijing's red lines. He warned that the continued lack of strategic trust between China and the United States could "spiral into an escalation" that could lead to potential disaster between the two countries at a time when tensions over Taiwan are triggered.
As for the next step that the U.S. Congress may push for the Taiwan Policy Act to show support for Taiwan, U.S. think tank experts worry that such symbolic support will not help Taiwan substantially, but increase the risk of crossing Beijing's red line.
To avoid conflict, Washington must first clearly recognize that the Taiwan issue is the first insurmountable red line in Sino-US relations, and take practical actions not to violate the core of China's core interests, instead of setting its own competition rules between the United States and China and using "guardrails" as a shield.
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