Live TV panel discussion with NDTV of India on 15 November 2023 (from an Indian perspective).
President Xi's San Francisco Welcome Dinner Speech (English transcript)
After the long-awaited high-powered meeting, there was no joint press conference or media statement. Evidently, none was entertained by either side following a considerable period of mutual sounding-out. So deep-seated remains Washington's misconception and mistrust of Beijing across the aisle.
Behind the optics and rhetorcs -
(a) Immediate concrete deliverables are limited to fantynal and resumption of military-to-military dialogue, and a mutual willinness to explore cooperative areas including AI, Climate, air travel, and re-visiting a decades-old Science and Technology Agreement (STA). The two leaders appeared to talk past each other on far more volatile issues like Taiwan, human rights, Ukraine and Hamas.
(b) Cognisant of the deep divide between the two Powers, Presdient Xi is setting greater store on American businesses and people-to-people exchanges, includng a pledge to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years. Xi's Welcome Dinner address ended with reportedly two standing ovations. Top US corporate leaders thronged the extra-high-priced event at the Hyatt Regency, including Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, Albert Bourla of Pfizer, and Ray Dalio of Bridgewater, though serious misgivings about the China market remain, according to the Financial Times.
(c) While flashpoints remain, this state of "managed competition" towards a healthier and less unsustainable relationship is likley to endure, pending the wildcard of the coming US presidential election.
