Financial Times, The China-US relationship needs to be managed, by the Editorial Board, November 14

“The most positive aspect of Monday’s talks between US president Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is that they took place at all,” says the Financial Times Editorial Board. Over the last decade there has been a shift in the U.S.-China relationship, with Washington trying to counter Beijing’s ambitions, while China continues to strengthen economically and militarily despite these attempts. The Board advises that Washington be cautious when managing its relationship with China, suggesting “that decoupling should not crash the global economy; that war must be avoided; and that China’s co-operation is still needed on a range of global issues.” The Board concludes that the U.S.-China relationship should include cooperation on mutual areas of interest to balance the already existing competition. 

South China Morning Post, China and US need to build on leaders’ talks in name of stability, by SCMP Editorial, November 15

Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden finally met in person earlier this week, and the SCMP Editorial Board says, “the face-to-face was a chance to make a difference.” During this meeting, both leaders were able to establish red lines in an attempt to prevent current competition from becoming a conflict. For China, this red line is Taiwan. The leaders took the opportunity to discuss cooperation on global issues aside from bilateral tensions, including climate change, drug trafficking, economic development, and the energy/food crisis. The Editorial Board says this discussion was crucial to the fight against climate change, and the announcement that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will soon be visiting China is “evidence Biden wants to follow up discussions from the meeting.” While the meeting was a positive step in the right direction, the Board warns that the fundamental tensions have not changed.  

CGTN, China, U.S. should bring relations back to the right track, by First Voice, November 14

“The rare but much anticipated face-to-face meeting between the two leaders has set a positive signal not only for the G20 Summit but also for global peace and stability,” says CGTN’s First Voice. The last time the Chinese leader and a U.S. President met in person was before the pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and heightened tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. First Voice says at the core of these tensions is Washington’s lack of understanding of China’s red lines, and Biden noted that understanding red lines was an intention of the physical meeting. “A stable China-U.S. relationship, after all, is in the interest of the entire world and as such has increasingly become a strong common aspiration of the international community,” summarizes First Voice. 

Global Times, U.S. needs to understand reality of China’s development, Ding Gang, November 16

Ding Gang, senior editor with People’s Daily, explains how U.S. policy towards China is a team decision, so it's important to understand Biden’s National Security Council in order to make predictions on the future of U.S.-China relations. According to Ding, the U.S.-China relationship “need to build a floor,” but this is difficult when Washington continues to change its China strategy. Washington’s recently released National Security Strategy has made it clear the U.S. now sees China as America’s greatest challenge, and there has been a shift in policy toward containing it. However, Ding argues that the U.S. is not seeing China’s reality of having a large population, which requires a lot of effort to govern and makes the country unable to pursue hegemony. He also points out that the U.S. holds “an archaic view of history," which focuses on state-to-state competition rather than seeking development together.