Chinese President Xi Jinping came to San Francisco on November 14th to attend a bilateral heads of state meeting at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden. This was their first meeting since the bilateral heads of state meeting on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022. Currently, U.S.-China relations are deteriorating. The United States continues to increase trade and technology sanctions against China, decoupling but in the name of non-decoupling (the Bali talks seem to be just empty words). After experiencing numerous ineffective negotiations, China has made the painful decision of shutting up and not making compromises. In recent years, the world has been wreaked havoc by the COVID-19 pandemic, then the Russia-Ukraine war, and last month, Israel and Palestine clashed again, causing endless war and atrocious bombings. Regardless of whether these are within the strategic expectations of the United States, its response capabilities are clearly being stretched. With the U.S. presidential election approaching next year, Biden must ease the tension with China and even seek help from China in resolving international conflicts. Therefore, Biden’s Administration wanted to resume dialogue with China to change appearances, restart high-level military talks, and resolve differences on commercial and economic matters. After many visits to China by the U.S. diplomatic, financial, and trade chiefs and the governor of California, it has finally become certain that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s reciprocal visit to Washington has resulted in a possible ‘negotiated’ Xi-Biden Summit. The world has high expectations for Xi’s visit, but no one can predict its actual results or score. This article will make some analysis and comments based on the news and official reports released post Xi’s visit, focusing on the results and consequences as well as what impact will it have on U.S.-China relations and the international situation.
 
The focus of Xi's visit is different on two sides. The United States had to put the brakes on 'targeting China' amid changes in the world arena (wars and economy) and pressure from the domestic economy, political situation, and the coming presidential election. Biden lowered his voice and wanted to cool down the China tension. After the meeting at Filoli Historic House and Garden in Woodside, Biden achieved his goal. The United States got both sides to agree to resume high-level military talks and created a semblance of de-escalation. It also got China's promise to help solve the epidemic of Botanic (Fentanyl) drugs in the United States, which killed 73,654 people in 2022. During his participation in the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, Xi will meet with the President of Mexico (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) and they will discuss the issue of regulating the use of pharmaceutical components manufactured from China to produce drugs to export to the United States. In addition, Xi also talked about cooperation in intelligence activities and climate change control. These are the gains of the United States from this Sino-US summit. In contrast, Xi Jinping did not get many  concrete answers to the crucial issues that he values. For example, on the Taiwan issue, Biden only reiterated that he abides by the one-China principle and did not say that he opposed Taiwan's independence and would not sell arms to Taiwan, meaningful remarks for maintaining cross-strait peace. Some small gains that have substantive value are: The United States promises to increase direct flights to China and streamline the visas process. China has its reasons to agree to show the appearance of tension easing in US-China relations as desired by the United States. On the one hand, China knows that the Biden Administration will not immediately change its basic policy of 'targeting China' under the pressure of public opinion, Congress, and the 2024 election. On the other hand, China realizes that the improvement of Sino-US relations lies with the American people. Therefore, during Xi’s participation in this Sino-US summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, he agreed to attend a large-scale dinner with American business, financial, and investment people and give a speech. This is a big event next to the U.S. Congress' speech invitation if extended to him. We can analyze the results of Xi’s visit to the United States from his speech and its media reaction.
 
At US$2,000 per seat and US$40,000 per table (eight seats plus one seat at the head table with President Xi), nearly 400 well-known Americans attended the dinner hosted by the National Committee on China-US Relations and other groups in Xi's honor. Xi's speech is of course the main theme. From his speech released, we can see that he is more sincere (than Biden) in promoting friendly relations between China and the United States. There was no political slogan in his speech. He just said that good relations between China and the United States are good for both countries and the world. Making Sino-US relations better depends on the people of both sides. He talked about the history of China and the United States a little. The development to today of $760 billion in bilateral trade, $260+ billion in mutual investment, 284 friendly relations with sister provinces, states, counties, and cities, and 300+ flights with more than 5 million people visiting every year is something worth cherishing. He particularly emphasized that Sino-US relations are a relationship between the people. He made four points: 1. The ‘foundation’ of Sino-US relations is nurtured by the people, 2. The ‘door’ is opened by the people (Ping Pong Tour), 3. The ‘story’ is told and written by the people (the personal story of his visit to Iowa resulted in lasting friends he made), 4. The ‘future’ is created by the people (the more difficult it is, the more it depends on communication between people's hearts). Xi understands that the two countries have different systems, but each is the choice of the people (not to be altered by another regime.) The people should respect each other and achieve peaceful, cooperative, and stable development. China has found its development path and has understood the difficulties and advantages of a large population. China wants to enable all people to live a good life, it will continue to develop in an all-round way, attach equal importance to material and mental quality of life, and work together with all mankind as a community. This speech shows that President Xi has a far-sighted vision and a broad mind. He is planning for common interests and common development for China, the United States, and the world. He has good intentions and hopes that the people of China and the United States can cooperate to create a prosperous future. This speech is more fruitful and far-reaching than the summit dialog revealed. The author expects that U.S. businessmen will invest more in China, and Xi's invitation to 50,000 young Americans to visit China will not only be a goodwill but also will produce good results.
 
Xi’s brief visit is over. The above comments are deduced from the limited information available at present. The impact of Xi's presence in the 30th APEC and China's effort in the UN to pass a resolution to force a cease-fire in the Israel-Palestine war will be discussed separately. We should pay close attention to see how U.S.-China relations will evolve in the future. The author hopes that every citizen will do his or her part to watch the governments and the world situation, to stop wars, and to seek peace, cooperation, and win-win results!

  
Since the breakout of the COVID-19 virus, like most people, I have been homebound and not able to travel abroad for nearly four years. In this period, the U.S. presidency changed from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Although they have quite different philosophies in managing domestic issues and dealing with foreign policies, surprisingly they both have embraced the anti-China national strategy, that is they both have set China as a target enemy viewing China’s rise as a threat to U.S. security. Trump started a trade and economic sanction against China and Biden extended his inherited anti-China (Trump) tactics to a broad technology sanction and several orchestrated alliances such as AUKUS (Australia-UK-U.S.) and QUAD+ (U.S.-Japan-Australia-India +) aimed at confining China’s progress and world influence. Trump marveled at his bargaining skills in business and trade and Biden valued his diplomatic and alliance-building experiences, both eagerly applied to the anti-China policy. Biden’s victory over Trump was not an overwhelming one, hence Biden’s continuation of an anti-China policy was understandable, an easy scapegoat blaming China for the deterioration of the U.S. standing on the world stage.
 
The U.S.-China relationship started to turn sour during the Trump Administration with its tariffs applied to steel and aluminum imports from China and sanctions against Zhong Xing and Huawei. The detention of Ms. Meng Wan Zhou, treasurer of Huawei, by the Canadian Custom under U.S. court charges and extradition order made world headlines and China and its citizens furious. The relationship got worse during Biden’s term when his national security team took charge of China policy by applying zealous diplomatic maneuvers against China involving U.S. Allies and expanding sanctions to technologies including the entire semiconductor industry. Furthermore, Biden’s team and the Democratic Party-controlled Congress continuously stepped on China’s redline, its sovereignty issue regarding the South China Sea and Taiwan island. The forming of AUKUS and QUAD doing military exercises near China’s sea border is a provocative act and playing the Taiwan card by selling military equipment to Taiwan preparing for war has made China the targeted enemy next to Russia no matter how words hypocritically covered these deeds. China has always believed in diplomatic negotiations to settle any international issues. Its attitude towards the U.S. has always been accommodating, valuing the U.S. as its largest trading partner. China wanted no conflicts with the U.S., but it guarded its honor and redlines seriously. Through the recent two U.S. Administrations, China seems to have woken up from her wishful thinking - pleasing and accommodating the U.S. will get peace in return.
 
China, its government, and its citizens had held a pro-U.S. attitude ever since WW II. China worked hard to build itself up from poverty to modernization, China expected respect from other countries, but she got little but hypocritical diplomacy from the U.S. The U.S. claims to recognize the one-China policy but it consistently tries to split China by agitating Tibet, Hongkong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan as sovereignty or independence issues resisting China’s effort to reunite itself peacefully. Everyone including the Americans knows that China was invaded and split by foreign powers, it is China’s right to reunite one China with its peaceful means which is more honorable than what the U.S. did to American Indians. Tibetans are now freed from religious slavery, Xinjiang Uighurs are living in better conditions than 95% of the Muslims in the world (except the few royalties), and Hongkong people finally can have true equality free of colonial status under the British. It is striving to be a free port and city governed by Hongkong and Chinese, not British laws. Taiwan enjoyed more than seventy years of peace achieving economic miracles now heavily dependent on Mainland trade. China did not want to take Taiwan by force and Taiwan people did not want war, so why is it the U.S. business to arm Taiwan for war? It is no wonder that China finally woke up from the ‘American Dream’; China is ignoring the U.S. pressure and influence and will act on its own will. Hence, the U.S.-China relations are in a deep freeze state. The U.S. continues to pursue its sanction and anti-China alliance policy, but China just simply focuses on its economy and builds a supply chain with no U.S. sanction components. The more U.S. sanctions, the more China becomes independent and more completely self-sufficient. Who gets hurt eventually? The U.S. will lose the China market, hurting its hi-tech future growth and China will gradually move its U.S. trade to its other 134 no.1 trading partners. The U.S. needs to defrost the freeze. That is why the U.S. is anxiously trying to have an open dialogue with China. The Biden-Xi meeting seems to be the only hope after the U.S. failed to open China’s door. The reason is that China has lost faith in U.S. diplomacy - saying one thing and doing another, fundamentally maintaining a targeting China policy.
 
The author was glad that he had made a fact-finding trip to China including Taiwan. The U.S. media and its Allies’ newspapers had become an orchestrated mouthpiece advocating the anti-China policy. The reports are one-sided with a concerted effort to trash China and sing the China collapse theme again, bad economy, high unemployment, real estate implosion, etc. As an international, especially US-China relations, commentator, one needs to make a fact-finding trip to reveal the Western Media Mirage. I am glad that I have made a one-month trip to China. I am also glad that Prof. Graham Allison of Harvard has also visited China in October for whatever reason, but he will find some facts for sure. Meeting some Californians in China talking about Gov. Galvin Newsom’s China trip has made the author believe that more people need to make a fact-finding trip to China. Newsom may or may not run for 2024 US Presidency (NBC Chuck Todd interviewed Newsom after his China trip, Newsom said: “He is re-electing Biden for 2024.”, but my Californian sources think otherwise), but his trip is a more useful fact-finding trip than petting a rare red crown bird. 
 
The author has written a couple of trip reports in Chinese; for our English readers, I will say here that China is not near to collapse than a giant space rock hitting the Earth. Yes, there is a slowdown in the economy, some employment problems for fresh graduates, and some over-built houses in third-tier cities but nothing near collapsing. China’s long-term strategy is intact and its response to US sanctions is furious and serious to the detriment of making the U.S. vulnerable. However, I detect a broad sentiment that China seeks no trouble but is afraid of no trouble. This sounds like an official line, but I believe most Chinese citizens mean that sincerely. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s response to Blinken’s earlier China trip and messages does reflect that public opinion. I am glad to learn that the Biden-Xi meeting may take place at APEC in San Francisco in November. This is very significant, one that the U.S. has wanted to have this meeting because no meeting will give a negative signal to the world. Secondly, this meeting will be Biden’s opportunity to verify with Xi his input from other people’s fact-finding reports on China. Hopefully, Biden will revise his China policy from one-sided thinking to a mutually beneficial approach. Based on what I have seen in China from a more prosperous province like Jiangsu to a recently fast-rising province like Anhui, and my discussions with common Chinese citizens, I can say that China’s fast-rising will continue to spread internally from region to region, perhaps no more “double-digit” growth, but still fast rising compared to the U.S. growth. The author does think the Biden-Xi meeting as one of the most significant international leaders meeting which can help not only the two countries but the world, however, based on Biden’s Administration’s past track record, one cannot raise too high a hope. Will they be open and sincere enough to resolve the senseless anti-China economic sanction? Will they be frank enough to make a peace effort in the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Palestine war? Or will Biden just seek for a political dividend for his re-election campaign? Xi certainly would rather have a cordial meeting with host Biden when attending APEC than have none. That is why at this point commenting on the much-anticipated forthcoming Biden-Xi meeting means a lot but ….
 

Mankind experienced the First World War from 1914 to 1918. The war started and ended in the then most developed continent, Europe, but it was extended to Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the Europeans' colonial interests. One might consider that the war was caused and triggered by the conflict between the European imperial powers (empires) and then national leaders' ambitions. The incidence of the assassination of Archduke Frantz Ferdinand, heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Serb was the triggering event of WW I in Europe, but the evolvement of the Central Power formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman and Bulgaria and the Allies led by Britain, France and Russia were political developments orchestrated by ambitious political leaders at the time. The U.S. declared neutrality right from the start (August 4, 1914) and did not enter the war till 1917. The U.S. banks were happy to loan money to Britain and France to buy ammunitions, materials and food supplies from America. The U.S. was benefitting from the war. Not until April 6, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson finally managed to get the U.S. Congress to declare war against Germany, over a year-long struggle with divided American public opinions: Principally the Anglophile Americans supporting the British for war versus Irish, German, and Scandinavian Americans advocating neutrality. Hindsight we realized that the U.S. benefitted from the Monroe doctrine by restraining aggressive colonial expansion (the British and French did) and late involvement in the war. In contrast, Japan, so motivated by its ambitious desire to become  an empire to rule Asia, declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914, with no justification. Later (8/27 – 11/7/ 1914), Japan joining Britain seized the Tsingdao port in China, a concession China granted to Germany after its defeat from the infamous Western invasion of China. That was how WW I extended to Asia Pacific. On 9/29-30/1914, Japan occupied the Marshall Islands. Wilson made no effort to prepare for land war except for the expansion of the U.S. Navy.  Wilson's war plan was forced by Germany's decision to use submarines to attack any vessels approaching the British waters (providing supplies needed), an obvious threat to American commerce ships. In addition, the U.S. was informed by British intellegence that a German telegram (known as the  Zimmerman Telegram) sent to Mexico was decoded revealing a secret plan to urge Mexico to wage a war against the U.S. to recover the territory Mexico lost in the American-Mexico war. This not only infuriated the American citizens but also threatened their interests. Hence, Wilson asked the Congress for 'a war to end all wars'. In WW I, the U.S. was a victor who benefitted from both early neutrality and late involvement.

Apparently, mankind did not learn enough from WW I. President Woodrow Wilson could not even get the peace 'Treaty of Versailles' ratified, and his League of Nations idea seemed to be hitting walls. The U.S. returned to its isolationist foreign policy which dominated through the great depression into the 1930's. Then we had WW II started on different continents at different times. The starting date of WW II in Europe was inconsistently deignated as 9/1/1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Considering the entire world war (beyond Europe), one must trace back to 9/18/1931 (The Mukden incident) when Japan used it as an excuse to invade China's Manchuria. Later Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia (10/25-11/1/1936) and  on 11/25/1936, Germany and Japan signed the anti-Comintern pact against the Soviet Union and the International Communists. Japan was emboldened by its industrialization copying the West to initiate its invasion plan to conquer China. On 7/7/1937, Marco Polo Incidence broke out, then advanced to Nanjing city on 12/13/1937 and launched a massacre lasting 6 weeks killing over 300,000 people for punishing Nanjing's resistance to its invasion. Although the U.S., Britain, the Soviet Union, and even Germany were sympathetic to China, China was fighting alone and furiously with its inferior military equipment against the well-equipped Japanese army, crushing Japan's dream of conquering China in six months. On 9/27/1940, Japan joined Germany and Italy signing a tripartite formalizing the AXIS alliance. Later, on 12/7/1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor forcing the U.S. to declare war on Japan. Then Germany declared war against the U.S. three days later bringing the U.S. officially into WW-II. China formally joined the Allies in the same month. Hence WW-II had two major theaters strategically integrated in the military sense, the Sino-Japanese war was the Asia theater tying up the bulk of the Japanese imperial army and airforce throughout the later part of WW-II. The U.S. while neutral, was reaping benefits by selling supplies (oil, wood, etc.) to Europe and Japan (Japan imports 90% of its oil needs). When Japan was making advances in Indochina, the U.S. was under pressure to join the British and Dutch to cut off oil supply to Japan. Japan feeling threatened by the oil embargo and sensing an inevitable war with the U.S. chose to strike Pearl Harbor to destroy the U.S. navy. But the attack was not a complete success, the battleships destroyed were obsolete ones and the lost planes were replaceable. The human casualty was stirring up a huge anti-Japan anger in the U.S. continent. The result was making the U.S. joined the Allies and won the victory of WW-II in both European and Asian theaters without having any battle on its home turf. This stimulated the U.S. economy, brought it out of the great depression (1929 -1941), and advanced its post WW-II prosperity, a very beneficial outcome for the U.S. from WW-II.

The two world wars enriched the U.S. making it the world's largest economy and the strongest nation on Earth. Being the superpower, the U.S. led the West to fight the Soviet Union and the spread of communism with a Cold War strategy. The U.S. won the Cold War and the Soviet Union collapsed, but unfortunately the U.S. had become a hegemonic superpower adopting a self-centered foreign policy while the world desired a harmonious and stable environment suitable for steady economic development. Many countries not involved in post-WW-II wars enjoyed a steady and healthy economic growth. Notably, China was the one that emerged from a weak and poor country to a quickly advancing modern nation. As China developed and gained influence in the world, the U.S. felt threatened. The U.S. has chosen a hegemony policy against any nation that is rising, hence China has become its target along with Russia. It is using all means to suppress China's growth and development by sanctioning trade, investment, and technology exports as well as urging its allies to target China. Many political observers have pointed out that the current international tension is very much like the world situation before WW I and II. Any small event may trigger WW III. However, this time it is different for the U.S. since it is no longer a neutral party rather it is the principal instigator of conflicts that had led or might lead to wars. The collapse of the Soviet Union (and NATO expansion), the Middle East turmoil (numerous wars), the Russia-Ukraine war, the unrest in Africa, and now the new tension in Asia Pacific where Taiwan is used to agitate China creating war tension in Asia Pacific. However, this time around, the U.S. cannot be reaping benefits as a bystander. If WW-III broke out, the U.S, would be directly and immediately  impacted. The weapons have been advanced to a cross-continental level even extraterrestrial and nuclear threat perforated in and across oceans. Any escalation of war would surely bring the fighting to the U.S. soil and worse, nuclear weapons would be used to revenge the U.S.as the trouble-maker not the peace-maker of WW III. As a citizen, one must question the current U.S. foreign policy makers, why the U.S. is leading the world to WW III?  

Histories are our teachers, current events are our alarms, and conscience and wisdom are our solutions! Americans must pause and stop our self-centered, hatred-motivated and hypocritical foreign policies and seek genuine peaceful collaboration!