As Xi Befriends World Leaders, He Hardens His Stance on the U.S.

NYT WORLD: As Xi Befriends World Leaders, He Hardens His Stance on the U.S.
By David Pierson
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: April 20, 2023 at 03:00AM

China has rebuffed calls to restart high-level talks with the United States, raising the risk of confrontation in contested areas like the Taiwan Strait.

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has rolled out the red carpet for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, lauding him as “an old friend of the Chinese people.” He has sipped tea in a garden with President Emmanuel Macron of France, treating him to a performance on an ancient Chinese zither. And he has talked on the phone with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, offering well wishes for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But even as Mr. Xi has offered a glad hand to those and other world leaders in recent weeks, it has been only the cold shoulder for the United States. China has rebuffed attempts by the Biden administration to restart high-level talks and lower tensions over Taiwan. And Mr. Xi’s government has intensified a campaign of ridicule and criticism of the United States and Western democracy. Taken together, the efforts to shore up ties with American allies while publicly discrediting the United States reflect Beijing’s hardening position as relations sink to their lowest point in decades over what Mr. Xi has described as Washington’s “containment, encirclement and suppression of China.”

Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/world/asia/xi-china-us.html