Breakthrough in San Francisco

A thaw came into play as the US and China agreed to disagree — but at the cost of escalating conflict. The summit meeting on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in San Francisco between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden was a landmark in essence. They agreed to establish a hotline of communication, and the fact that they agreed to set aside formalities of diplomacy in talking tete-a-tete whenever necessary is a milestone achievement. The first face-to-face meeting in a year vowed to stabilise their fraught relationship and showcase modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and re-establish military communications. This is a leap forward as both the states, having stirred competition in all walks of legal, economic and diplomatic horizons, finally paused so that better sense prevails.

The summit will surely have far-reaching implications for a world grappling with instability, and faces two undesired wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Xi’s assurance that Taiwan Straits will be open for international navigation and Biden’s largesse to tell his adversary that there is no room for a war over the issue is quite relieving. “We have to ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” the consensus was soothing. Both the leaders talked at length over export controls, investment screenings and sanctions, and made room for bilateral dialogue in weeks and months to come. The fact that Xi urged the US to support China’s peaceful unification with Taiwan, and Biden was receptive to it was epoch-making to say the least. This confirms One-China policy by the US, and is a good omen at a time when competition sits at the edges of an accidental clash.

The US and China must graduate from this new-found understanding to work closely for the global economy in an era of alliances, and jointly address the existential fissures in the Middle East. Beijing having brokered reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has a mileage to put its foot down in taking up the Palestinian imbroglio.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2023.

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