Joe Biden criticised Beijing’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” towards Taiwan but added that a “new Cold War” with China was not inevitable, in talks with President Xi Jinping ahead of the G20 summit in Bali.
In their first face-to-face talk since Biden took office last year, the US President condemned China’s human rights record in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.
While there was a recognition of common ground between the two countries – including on food security, climate and avoiding nuclear war – relations between the two superpowers are at a particularly low ebb.
The US-China relationship will be one of the major talking points at this year’s summit in Indonesia, which officially kicks off tomorrow.
It’s the first since the invasion of Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin will not be attending. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s longstanding foreign minister, is there in his place.
Because Russia is a member of the G20, Putin’s absence makes it very difficult for leaders to formally agree on anything at all, and the odds of a joint communique are low. The customary “family photo” has even been ditched this year to save everyone the embarrassment of standing next to Lavrov.
It’s into this geopolitical crucible that a fresh-faced Rishi Sunak landed today for his first big diplomatic test as PM.
One of his main jobs is to reassure the world that he’s not Boris Johnson or Liz Truss – he’s a safe pair of hands steering Britain back to a time when it was considered a pragmatic, reliable partner. He’ll want to lead the charge on big issues, particularly the global economic crisis.
Yet economic woes at home undermine Sunak’s ability to set the agenda abroad. The UK is the only G7 economy to remain smaller than it was before the pandemic and has the third lowest growth rate in the G20, after South Africa and India.
Trimming foreign aid spending and Johnson’s merging of the Department for International Development (DFID) into the Foreign Office, have also tempered the UK’s global clout.
Even so, Britain has been one of the leading Western powers on Ukraine, and Sunak is planning on addressing Russia’s invasion directly at the initial leaders meeting tomorrow.
Johnson was a massive hit with Ukrainians, and Sunak’s former boss will cast a long shadow over his own approach. To shore up his credentials, Sunak penned a column in The Telegraph today making clear his iron-clad commitment to continue to support Ukraine, although he’s not yet matched his predecessors’ commitment to up defence spending to 3 per cent by 2030.
Beyond Ukraine, Sunak’s foreign policy is a bit of a mystery. While China hawks in the Tory party are nervous of the former Chancellor’s eagerness to forge economic ties with Beijing, his rhetoric toughened over the summer leadership contest, calling China the “number one threat” to domestic and global security.
Sunak is due to touch down back home on Thursday just hours before Jeremy Hunt unveils £50bn of tax rises and spending cuts, a package likely to define Sunak’s time in office. The beaches of Bali will feel like a distant memory.
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life