U.S. President Joe Biden has been basking in the glow of his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which he signed into law on Nov. 15. But Biden’s virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the same day underlined the need for both leaders to invest some of their political capital in rebuilding the infrastructure that supports their countries’ increasingly brittle bilateral relationship.
During their meeting, both presidents expressed a desire to avoid a new cold war. But no amount of summitry will steer U.S.-China relations back on track without some fundamental agreement between the two countries.
Fortunately, unlike former President Donald Trump’s administration, Biden does appear to want to restore normality to the relationship. As U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said after the meeting, “intense competition” between the two countries “requires intense diplomacy.”
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