Sombre mood during Biden's China visit

When he last visited China two years ago, US Vice-President Joe Biden found time to have lunch at a Beijing snack shop and even went on a feel- good trip to Sichuan with his then Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The mood in China was far less welcoming when Mr Biden visited again on Wednesday, in the midst of rising tension over China's new air zone.

Mr Biden was reportedly sombre after emerging from a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that went longer than scheduled. But in their public comments, both refrained from letting the tension show.

Mr Xi highlighted the need for closer bilateral cooperation in the light of the profound and complex changes in the international and regional landscape, citing the "in-depth readjustment" of the global economy and how "regional hot spot issues keep cropping up".

"The world, as a whole, is not tranquil. To strengthen cooperation and dialogue is the only right choice facing both our countries," said Mr Xi.

In response, Mr Biden said the approach to their bilateral ties has to be based on trust and requires "a positive notion about the motive of one another". "If we get this relationship right with a genuine new model, the possibilities are limitless," he said.

Mr Biden did not elaborate, but the two powers have been exchanging sharp words in recent days over China's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea launched on Nov 23, which overlaps with those of its neighbours.

Washington has accused Beijing of unilaterally changing the status quo in the region and raising tension, while China insisted that it was merely exercising its sovereign rights.

Mr Biden struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone in Beijing after delivering sharp critcisms of China's ADIZ when he was in Tokyo on Tuesday, on the first leg of a week-long Asia tour that takes him to Seoul.

He did not mention the ADIZ in his meetings with Mr Xi and Vice-President Li Yuanchao. Instead, he stressed his friendship with Mr Xi, as well as his long ties with China going back to his first visit in 1979 when he met the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Mr Biden and Mr Xi share a personal rapport dating back to the Chinese leader's days as vice-president from 2008 till early this year.

Analyst Li Mingjiang of Nanyang Technological University said while the ADIZ issue was not discussed in public, it was likely to have been picked up in private.

That Beijing had not behaved assertively in its ADIZ in recent days and its Defence Ministry clarified on Tuesday that the zone is neither a no-fly zone nor territorial airspace are likely to have reassured the Americans and mitigated their concerns, he added.

"The Americans are picking up this message that China is toning down on this ADIZ issue. The main objective of Biden's visit is not to pick a fight or to criticise China's security policy. It was to find out more about the new policies in the pipeline as a result of the Third Plenum and to look for new areas of cooperation instead."

esthert@sph.com.sg

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