A Sino-American détente? Don’t hold your breath

AFTER months of rising tensions between America and China, the meeting this week (Nov 14) between US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping has created hopes that the two nations may soon engage in some form of diplomatic détente.

The optics and rhetoric surrounding the three-hour encounter between the two national leaders in Bali, Indonesia, did help create a sense of optimism about the future of the Sino-American relationship. That followed a period dominated by geo-strategic and geo-economic battles, with many predicting that the two superpowers were heading toward a new Cold War that could trigger perhaps a military confrontation over Taiwan.

Indeed, President Biden’s recent decision to block exports of advanced computer chips to China was seen by many as the launching of a new Cold War, a signal that his administration resolved to block the rise of China as the world’s leading technological and military power.