Biden and Xi Jinping sit face to face in Indonesia

After several months of intense preparations and attempts at rapprochement between the members of the "Group of 20" - through various meetings at ministerial level - the Indonesian island of Bali has already received on Monday most of the heads of state and government who will participate in the G20 summit on 15 and 16 November. This group includes the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. 

The leader of the White House was one of the first to arrive on the island at around ten o'clock on Sunday night local time, after having taken part in the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia. For his part, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, Jinping, landed in Bali after seven o'clock on Monday morning, just two hours before meeting his US counterpart for the first time since the latter took office in January 2021, almost two years ago. 

In this historic meeting of more than three hours, the two leaders agreed to empower key officials and decision-makers "to address transnational challenges such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability - including debt relief - health security and global food security", as well as to manage trade competition responsibly - although it is not expected to be reduced, according to a statement released by the White House minutes after the meeting. In other words, they worked to reduce the political, commercial and economic tensions that have characterised their relations in recent months.

However, the issue of Taiwan remains for Beijing "the first red line that must not be crossed". "Taiwan is part of China's core interests, and they are the basis of Sino-US relations. [...] We hope to see peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait", warned Xi Jinping, "but peace and Taiwan 'independence' are irreconcilable". Since last August, tensions around the island have not ceased to grow, due to the numerous visits by US representatives to the territory - such as that of the Speaker of Congress, Nancy Pelosi - and the Chinese response through the largest military exercises in decades. 

"On Taiwan, our policy has not changed," the White House statement said. "The United States opposes any unilateral change to the status quo on either side", although the text did include the US objection to "coercive and increasingly aggressive actions by the People's Republic of China toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, in the wider region, and endanger global prosperity". 

In addition, Biden and Xi Jinping used their first meeting to address the danger of the possible use of nuclear weapons in the context of the war in Ukraine and the "provocative" behaviour of North Korea, which has escalated its missile exercises in recent weeks. 

Given all these issues, and with the clear aim of continuing to deepen their relations, both leaders announced that the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, will visit China in the coming months, although no specific date has been specified. 

It will not only be the meeting of the presidents of the two major world powers that will be marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threat of a possible nuclear war. The entire G20 summit is expected to revolve around a crisis that has put most of the international community on edge. 

Thus, the group, made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the United States, with Spain as a permanent guest, will bring together its heads of government and state - with the exception of Brazil, Mexico and Russia, which has limited itself to sending the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov - to address these issues. In fact, according to diplomatic sources, the 20 may be finalising a draft joint declaration in preparation for the summit. 

The text is expected to mention the war in Ukraine, despite possible disputes over the use of that word, or others such as "special military operation" or "armed conflict". It is also expected that the organisation, founded in 1999 and whose purpose is to promote economic cooperation between the world's twenty largest economies, will also take a stand against the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict and in favour of peaceful resolutions, something that has so far been defended by the European Union and Japan. 

It now remains to be seen whether the draft will win the approval of all the representatives attending Bali, among whom Putin will not be present, or whether, on the contrary, it will once again remain a failed attempt.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.