US-China Relations Are Progressing Slowly, the CCP Is Anxious

Then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) and then Chinese Vice Chair Xi Jinping talk during an expanded bilateral meeting with other U.S. and Chinese officials in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 14, 2012. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Commentary

After U.S. President Joe Biden finally conducted his first talk with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Feb. 10, state-run media Xinhua proclaimed for three days that the call had sent “positive signals.” But the signals were obviously not strong enough, because on Feb. 14, Beijing’s mouthpiece People’s Daily issued another commentary. The article was penned under the authorship of “Bells,” titled “Promote a Healthy and Stable Development of Sino-U.S. Relations.” It urged both sides to “act.”