Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their U.S.-born cub, Xiao Qi Ji, have safely made it back home. The three pandas landed in China’s Sichuan province on Nov. 9 after a 19-hour flight from Washington. To ensure a first-class journey, the pandas had access to toys, bamboo, and biscuits throughout the flight. The return of the three pandas to China signals the end of an era. Since the thaw in U.S.-China relations in the 1970s, Beijing had been loaning pandas to U.S. zoos. Fast-forward 50 years: Amid sky-high U.S.-China tensions, Beijing now wants its bears back home (or to send them to Qatar).
The end of China’s panda diplomacy in the United States is only one example of how sour relations between Washington and Beijing have turned since then-U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war in 2018. There is little hope that the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco will change the relationship’s dynamics. Here is a preview of both sides’ perspectives, potential deliverables, and the meeting’s likely impact on future U.S.-China relations.
1. U.S. expectations for the meeting reflect election politics. Less than a year away, the November 2024 presidential election is already dominating the U.S. political agenda. Bipartisan tensions abound on virtually every topic, be it support for Ukraine, subsidies for clean tech, or abortion rights. By contrast, the perceived need to adopt a tough stance on China is perhaps the only topic that still attracts broad bipartisan support. Biden will therefore seek to use his meeting with Xi to demonstrate resolve in a bid to score brownie points with both Democratic and Republican voters.
