Obama-Xi Meeting at Calif. Estate Marks Shift in US-China Relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to California’s Annenberg Estate* in early June to meet with U.S. President Obama. The brief two-day encounter is neither a state nor working visit and will be the first of its kind since the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979. The affair has not received much publicity, due in part to the sudden nature of the meeting, but also because it is widely expected that the two heads of state will meet again in September at the G-20 summit in Russia. Many believe that the earlier meeting is being driven by some concrete agenda that requires more immediate discussion, prompting Xi to make a short stop in California on his return from visits to three countries in Latin America.

Never before has a brief meeting between leaders such as this occurred in the history of relations between the U.S. and China. Visits to the U.S. by Chinese leadership in the past have primarily been grand occasions on official state visits, including 21-gun salutes, inspections of honor guards and state dinners at the White House. Because state visits involve a plethora of departments and are aimed at achieving certain results, preparations can be lengthy and cumbersome. Meanwhile, a short trip obviously dispenses with formalities and places greater emphasis on the issues at hand, with officials free to talk and go their separate ways and no need to stand on ceremony. Although this is the first such meeting between the U.S. and China, it is not so in the two powers’ dealings with other countries; these past experiences can serve as a valuable guide for the challenges of today.

In March 1969, the Chinese and Soviet armies clashed in a fierce battle on Zhenbao Island, to the extent that both armor and artillery units were deployed. In June of the same year, the Soviets invaded Xinjiang in a surprise attack on the Chinese army that killed and injured many. The two nuclear powers prepared for war as tensions ran high. In September, China responded to Soviet requests and hosted a meeting between Premier Zhou Enlai and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin at Beijing Airport. It was but a short detour on Kosygin’s journey back to Moscow from a diplomatic trip abroad; during the three-hour and 40-minute session in the airport’s VIP lounge, the two sides discussed everything from broad Sino-Soviet disputes to the military conflict. A month later, long-stalled Chinese-Soviet border talks were resumed, marking the breaking of a new dawn in relations between the two countries.

Of course, this meeting in California, unlike the aforementioned encounter four decades prior, is not overshadowed by impending war. Nonetheless, given the haste with which the arrangements were made, the issues up for discussion surely cannot be such paltry fare as “friendship between the U.S. and China.” The talks will certainly be of substance, or else there would be no reason not to wait until the summit in Russia. For the time being, there are three common narratives between the U.S. and China.

First is finding a path to resolving the North Korean crisis. Since Kim Jong Un’s rise to power, differences have emerged in North Korea’s diplomatic and military postures from those of Kim Jong Il. As two major players in Northeast Asia, it is vital that the U.S. and China communicate. Second are the disputes over sovereignty in the East and South China Seas. China is directly involved in both the Diaoyu Islands and South China Sea disputes, while the U.S. holds unequaled influence over Japan and the Philippines. Furthermore, the spat in the South China Sea was instigated by the U.S. during Obama’s first term, as a starting point for extending the U.S.’ “return to Asia” strategy. There is a tougher, unyielding element underlying China’s softer initial overtures; if tensions do not ease, conflict may be difficult to avoid. Third are the economic considerations. Uncertainty over an end to quantitative easing and the performance of the Chinese economy were the catalyst for last week’s sudden drop in markets across the globe. The U.S. and China are the two strongest economic powers and must discuss such issues.

Also noteworthy is that, last Wednesday, Tung Chee Hwa, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Politics Consultative Conference, spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Formerly the chief executive of Hong Kong, Tung has been regarded as a positive force for U.S.-China relations since his departure from politics in Hong Kong. In fact, Tung, who ranks among the “leaders of the party and the state,” may have a deeper understanding of U.S. politics than any other high-level official in Beijing. He was in the U.S. at the time that the Obama-Xi meeting was announced; in his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the focus on current U.S.-China relations was clear. That relationship, he pointed out, is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and the two nations can join hands in addressing a series of global challenges to spur economic recovery and financial stability across the world. He also said that the two powers should open up collaborative efforts centered on energy, environmental protection, anti-terrorism and nonproliferation. Tung’s speech was no mere coincidence; his trip to the U.S. should be taken as paving the way for Xi, introducing the new paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party’s views on U.S.-China relations.

In truth, however, those relations have remained fairly stable for the past decade. As previous state council premier Zhu Rongji said, the relationship “won’t be going anywhere, whether good or bad.” The U.S. and China have disparate views on human rights, trade and even regional security, as well as even more glaring differences in other areas, but due to their status as world powers, they cannot act too rashly. In fact, it is precisely because of this “limitation” that they have established a relatively stable mode of relations.

The more relaxed format of the California summit is a sign that U.S.-China relations have now moved beyond the constraints of state visits and arrangements can be made quickly to discuss pressing matters. Regardless of the outcome of this meeting, holding talks is far preferable to both sides keeping their silence at their respective ends. Dialogue and communication is tremendously important in today’s world; after 34 years of contact, these pragmatic means of diplomacy show how the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China has matured. From Henry Kissinger feigning a stomachache in order to secretly visit Beijing in the early ‘70s to the unrestrained choice of venue today and from simple collective opposition to the Soviet Union to a diverse range of issues tying the two countries together, the changes in the nature of the U.S.-China relationship have been nothing if not enormous.

*Editor’s Note: Annenberg Estate is the former name of Sunnylands, an estate run by the Annenberg Foundation.