Republicans criticize Biden’s stance after his meeting with Xi

Congressional Republicans mostly condemned President Joe Biden for saying there “doesn’t need to be a new Cold War” between the United States and China, after a three hour summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia.

However, some Republicans joined members of the Biden-led Democratic Party in cautiously welcoming signs that the meeting could have helped avoid misunderstandings that could lead to unnecessary conflict.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted: “Joe Biden has again failed to address or even acknowledge China’s Cold War against America. His naive return to an appeasement policy will harm the United States, endanger Taiwan, and further embolden Xi Jinping.”

Biden also asserted: “I don’t think there is any imminent attempt by China to invade Taiwan,” despite Beijing’s escalating military moves across the Taiwan Strait.

Before the meeting, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told the voice of america that “if the leaders or the president, the vice president of the United Statesthey can talk to Chinese leaders to address concerns about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait or the violation of the status quo by China, it will be very helpful for regional peace.”

Biden’s comments sparked an angry reaction from several Republican lawmakers.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, also a Republican, tweeted: “Xi Jinping is focused on global domination, not working with the Biden administration on climate change.”

Meetings described as “frank and constructive”

The leaders of the world’s two largest economies met this week on the eve of the G-20 summit in Bali. Each of the men had scored recent political victories at home: Xi began an unprecedented third term and Biden benefited from what is seen as a victory for his Democratic Party after a strong showing in the US midterm election.

The two engaged in a candid conversation about their respective priorities and intentions on a variety of topics, according to minutes of the meeting released by the White House.

Biden stressed the need for the US and China to work together on transnational challenges including climate change, global macroeconomic stability including debt relief, health security and global food security, according to the reading.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said: “Both presidents found the meeting in-depth, sincere and constructive. They instructed their teams to immediately follow up and implement the important common understandings reached between them and take concrete steps to restore peace.” track of relations for steady development between China and the United States”.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, vice chair of the Intelligence Committee and senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the Bali meeting was not a turning point in US-China relations.

Rubio told the Mandarin service at the VOA during an interview on Monday that “no meeting will solve the deep problems between the United States and China, which will remain the challenge of the centuries.”

In a written statement Monday, before Xi and Biden met, Rubio criticized Biden for “dangerously” misrepresenting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which he said “openly fuels conflict with the United States and its allies.”

“This meeting should have held the CCP accountable for its rampant human rights abuses, continued theft of American intellectual property, and its refusal to investigate the origins of COVID-19,” Rubio said. “Instead, President Biden demonstrated that he is willing to sacrifice everything, including our national security and the security of our allies, for the sake of continuing ill-fated climate talks with our nation’s greatest adversary.”

“It’s good that we’re talking”

However, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia believes the lengthy meeting indicated a positive development.

“Three hours is not necessarily a good sign, but I think it’s a positive, because there are so many issues, and that tells me that they both came into the meeting understanding how important US-China communication is at the very least,” he told the conference. VOA in Mandarin on Monday. “So I was glad to hear that.”

Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota told the VOA that it is important to maintain good relations with China.

“The Chinese Communist Party may have different views on how to get there,” he said. “We want to make our positions clear, but we also want them to understand that they would rather have peace than conflict.”

“I always have the hope that communications and diplomacy can win,” he added. “Time will tell whether or not we had a successful meeting. But it’s good that we’re talking.”

Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Democratic Rep. Ami Bera of California said in a statement that “candid dialogue and sustained diplomacy are necessary to ensure that this competition is healthy, constructive and does not escalate into conflict.”

But, they added, engagement with China “will continue to be based on the principle of strategic competition as long as Beijing continues to ignore international rules and norms, be it China’s aggression in the Taiwan Strait, its genocide in Xinjiang, its oppression in Hong Kong and Tibet, or his support for the destabilizing actions of Russia and North Korea.

[Adrianna Zhang contribuyó a este despacho]

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