Biden hails 'real progress' as Xi summit ends with garden walk

Biden hails 'real progress' as Xi summit ends with garden walk
By Aurelia End with Danny Kemp in San Francisco
Woodside, United States (AFP) Nov 16, 2023

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to restore military communications at their first summit in a year Wednesday, even as Biden went off script by saying he still considered Xi a "dictator."

The leaders shook hands and strolled in a garden at a historic California estate during four-hour talks aimed at preventing growing tensions between the world's largest economies from spiraling into conflict.

They also agreed that China would crack down on the production of ingredients for the drug fentanyl, responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States.

But Xi and Biden remained far apart on the wider flashpoint of Taiwan, with the Chinese president telling his US counterpart to stop arming the island and saying that reunification was "unstoppable."

Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-ruling democracy and has not ruled out seizing it by force.

The two leaders had not met in person since they held talks in Bali in November 2022, and relations nosedived after the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February this year.

But Biden told a press conference at the Filoli estate in California that his talks with Xi, whom he has known since 2011, were "some of the most constructive and productive discussions we've had."

- 'He's a dictator' -

The United States would compete "vigorously" but "responsibly" with an increasingly assertive China "so it doesn't veer into conflict or accidental conflict," he added.

"He and I agreed that each one of us could pick up the phone, call directly and we'll be heard immediately," Biden said.

The separate move to restore high-level US-China military-to-military communications, which China severed after then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, was "critically important" to avoid possible conflicts, he added.

The two sides also agreed to hold talks on artificial intelligence and deepen cooperation on climate change ahead of the COP 28 conference in Dubai next month.

But a day of painstakingly choreographed diplomacy ended with a not-so-diplomatic remark as Biden walked offstage after his press conference.

"Well look he is," Biden said when a reporter asked if he would still say Xi was a dictator as he had in June, a remark that prompted an angry response from Beijing at the time.

"I mean he's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who's running a country, a Communist country, that's based on a form of government totally different than ours."

Diplomats had spent months trying to get the talks to happen, and then arranging the smallest details at the exclusive estate, which featured in the US television soap opera "Dynasty" in the 1980s.

The carefully cultivated symbolism saw red carpet handshakes, delegations sitting on either side of a huge table, and culminating with Biden and Xi taking the air in the grounds.

They also shared a working lunch of herbed ricotta ravioli and tarragon chicken with gold rice pilaf.

- 'Stop arming Taiwan' -

Xi and Biden waved at reporters during their garden walk, and Biden had raised two thumbs up when asked how the talks went.

The Chinese leader had earlier warned that "turning their back on each other was not an option," and said that "Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed."

Biden and Xi also discussed the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, on which their countries have found themselves backing opposing sides.

But after the talks Xi too had tough words for Biden, particularly on the subject of Taiwan.

"The US side should... stop arming Taiwan, and support China's peaceful reunification," Xi told Biden, according to a readout from China's foreign ministry.

"China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable."

Russia, a partner of China in what Washington sees as a growing authoritarian alliance, welcomed the meeting, with the Kremlin calling the talks "important for everyone."

With the summit over, Biden and Xi's choice of engagements showed where their priorities for "responsible competition" lie.

Biden addressed a welcome reception for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, a key area of influence for the United States.

Xi, whose country is struggling to shore up post-Covid growth, was meanwhile hosting a dinner with US executives.

'Dynasty' to diplomacy for Xi-Biden summit estate
San Francisco (AFP) Nov 15, 2023 - Don't expect Joan Collins to show up, but the California estate where Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met Wednesday is perhaps best known as the setting of the 1980s soap opera "Dynasty".

Built in 1917, the Filoli Estate at Woodside near San Francisco played host to a landmark summit that aims to reduce the risk of conflict between the world's largest economies.

Every detail of the China-US talks at the brick mansion with its white porticos and lush gardens in the northern California foothills has been carefully choreographed for maximum diplomatic effect.

The 56-room house will, however, look very familiar to fans of a different kind of drama that featured bigger hair and shoulder pads than those on offer from Xi and Biden.

It formed the backdrop to the primetime 1980s series starring John Forsythe as ruthless oil magnate Blake Carrington and Joan Collins as his scheming ex-wife Alexis Colby which became the most watched widely watched series in television history.

The front steps where Biden shook hands with Xi can be seen in the swooping overhead aerial shot of the Carrington family's home in the opening titles of "Dynasty".

The gilt-edged, frescoed ballroom where the Chinese and American delegations met was where Blake Carrington married his innocent secretary Krystle in the series premiere.

Later series used a soundstage based on the interior of the Filoli estate.

Located about 26 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Francisco, the property built by the Borne goldmining family boasts sprawling grounds with English-style gardens, ornamental ponds, an orchard and a path.

- 'Catfights' -

These days the estate can also be booked for weddings, ranging from $4,000 for a smaller ceremony to $65,000 or more for a more luxurious reception, according to its website.

The estate, open to the public since 1975 and now managed by a non-profit organization, owes its name Filoli to the first syllables of the motto of a former owner -- "FIght for a just cause. LOve your fellow man. LIve a good life."

But it has also become something of a pilgrimage site for fans of "Dynasty", with a special video on the website aimed at fans.

"Over the years the house and gardens hosted many glittering events, although perhaps none as dramatic as those featured on 'Dynasty' -- at least no real-life catfights as far as we know," says the video.

For his part, Xi will be no stranger to luxurious locations belonging to scandal-hit American tycoons, having met then-president Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2017.

But Biden and Xi will be hoping on Wednesday that despite its television pedigree, the Filoli Estate will prove to be a calm setting for the two leaders -- with no cliffhangers and certainly no backstabbing.

Diplomatic negotiations have been going on for months to get the talks to happen, and to ensure that the even the most minute elements of protocol have been observed, US officials said.

The venue was kept secret even from members of the White House press corps traveling with Biden to San Francisco for the APEC summit until the morning of the talks.