
<p>Chinese President Xi Jinping was coming to America to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting. ; That resulted in a private meeting between him and President Biden. ; The significance of such a meeting might have been greater had it not been more or less a ceremonial sidebar for Xi. ; When heads-of-state visit other nations for any reason, it is customary to meet with the host head-of-state. ; If it were not for the APEC event, it is very unlikely that Xi ; and Biden would have met at this time.</p>



<p>Most observers – and the White House – played down the significance of the meeting in terms of any “deliverables” – as the diplomats call breakthrough agreements on major issues. ; Most politicians and reporters said that the meeting itself was a significant deliverable. ; A good thing, in and of itself. ; I suppose that it was a “good thing” only insofar as it was not a “bad thing.”</p>



<p>Observers and pundits conceded upfront that there would be no agreements on such issues as climate change, Ukraine War, Xi’s political bromance with Russian despot Vladimir Putin … Taiwan … resolution of the South China Sea controversy … Chinese spying … meddling in U.S. elections … harassment of Chinese Americans … intellectual property piracy … human rights violations … democracy movement Hong Kong … and the list goes on. ; Agreements? ; Biden did not even bring up most of these topics.</p>



<p>One reason that we will not see much change in China’s aggressive competitiveness with the United States is that America has lost leverage. ; Xi does not see Biden in the same way that Russian Premier Gorbachev saw President Reagan. ; Xi does not see America as the strong world leader as did Gorbachev. ; During a recent meeting with Russian dictator Putin, Xi said that the world was changing and that he and Putin were leading that change. ; The meeting in the recently sanitized San Francisco did not change that view.</p>



<p>It appears that Biden is claiming some sort of victory on the Fentanyl crisis – in terms of China supplying drug dealers in the Americas with the makings for the deadly drug, if not the drug, itself. ; The terms of the agreement are vague, to say the least. ; And Biden’s reliance on President Reagan’s policy “to trust but verify” suggests there is no significant enforcement to the handshake agreement. ; I may be wrong, but my prediction is that we will not see a measurable reduction in the flow of Fentanyl coming across the southern border.  ;It is a black-market trade, and it is dubious that Xi can do much about it even if he wanted to do so.</p>



<p>China’s controlled media has shifted from attacking the United States, to blowing kisses in conjunction with the Xi/Biden meeting. ; As they say, “talk is cheap.” ; The rest of the success of the meeting – or lack thereof – will be seen in the months and years ahead. ; So far, the meeting does not offer much hope or evidence of any fundamental change in the Chinese/American relationship in the near future.</p>



<p>On terms of policies, there were no “deliverables” coming out of the Biden/Xi meeting – and there never will be until American world leadership is once again real and believed – and not merely words and political narratives espoused for main street consumption.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Biden/Xi meeting accomplishes nothing of significance
