Last Saturday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Lima, Peru, U.S. President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that any decision to use nuclear weapons should be controlled by humans, not by artificial intelligence.
     This is the first time that China has made this statement. It comes at a time when Biden is getting ready to leave office. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the agreement was an important first step for the two nuclear powers to address a long-term strategic risk of nuclear war.
     Biden’s goal in the meeting was to emphasize the importance of stability in the U.S. – China relationship during the transition of power in the U.S., and to try to nail down gains he had made with Xi on issues like counternarcotics and climate.
     Xi said that China wants to work with the incoming Trump White House. He continued, “China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand the cooperation and manage differences. Our position of resolutely safeguarding China’s sovereignty, security and development interests remains unchanged.”
     At the start of the ninety-minute meeting, held on the sidelines of the APEC summit, Xi said that the relationship between the two countries was “the world’s most important bilateral relationship.” Biden said, “How we get along together is going to impact the rest of the world.”
     Xi mentioned that the bilateral relationship had “gone through ups and downs” during Biden’s term. He and took specific aim at the Biden administration’s export controls on advanced technology. These restrictions are aimed at advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools, the most advanced types of semiconductor chips and technology used in military systems, hypersonic missiles, autonomous systems, and surveillance.
     In his opening remarks, Xi dedicated considerable time to talking about competition in “an age of flourishing sci-tech revolution”. He said, “Only mutually beneficial cooperation can lead to common development. ‘Small yard, high fences’ is not what a major country should pursue.” This was a direct reference to the U.S. export control policy.
     Biden’s team is advocating for the incoming U.S. administration to carry on the export controls, Sullivan said. Prior to the meeting, Sullivan had told reporters that he saw some continuity with the incoming Trump administration. He specifically mentioned Representative Mike Waltz, who Trump has just named as his national security adviser, and Senator Marco Rubio, who Trump will nominate for Secretary of State, for their focus on the strategic challenges posed by China.
    Trump made tariffs on imports of Chinese goods a feature of his first term in office and vowed during his campaign to hike tariffs on China again in his second term.  Biden had kept most of Trump’s in place during his time in office.
     Sullivan said Biden reiterated his concerns about Chinese trade practices during the APEC summit. He also said Biden was concerned about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base. He urged Xi to use his influence over North Korea to stop that country from sending more troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation