Joe Biden has tried hard to have a face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping on American soil. Xi has tried equally hard to frustrate Biden. Eventually, Xi blinked first. Here they are, in a rarely spit-clean San Francisco.

Likely behind Biden are medical experts observing Xi closely but clandestinely. They are conducting a non-intrusive checkup on the Chinese leader. Does Xi know it? You bet. But then Xi can't wait to keep America's market on top of continued tech transfer. Reality is harsher on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

On Biden's hidden agenda, I think, is a bipartisan demand to know if Xi is well-informed of what his subordinates have been doing. If Xi is not, then the geopolitical implications will be anybody's guess.

The Chinese balloon incident early this year* has alerted the U.S. to the possibility, if not the probability, that Xi was in the dark when it happened. Of course, Xi can spin this interesting balloon story all he wants. Still, the American intelligence community will listen carefully. Even misinformation and disinformation may somehow yield a grain of truth. Does Xi know what Biden is really up to? You bet. But then, the ball is in Xi's court. He owes Biden the host an explanation, doesn't he? For Xi, silence is not golden; silence is deafening.

Meanwhile, climate change, cooperation, blah blah blah...go on forever.


Author: renqiulan

* On February 1, 2023 a supposedly high-altitude balloon flying from China was reportedly visible to the naked eye in Billing, Montana.