For the first time since President Joe Biden took office, he met face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.
The two men had previously spoken on the phone five times in the past year and a half that Biden has been in office, The New York Times reported.
Biden and Xi got together on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit on Indonesia’s tropical island of Bali to discuss a number of issues, including the situations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet as well as climate change and economic policies, the White House said in a news release on the meeting.
Not only is there a generally tense relationship between the U.S. and China, but it tangibly played out when an American journalist got shoved by members of the Chinese delegation after trying to ask a question about human rights.
According to the Agence France Presse, a small group of journalists was present when the two leaders gave their initial remarks before meeting behind closed doors.
As the reporters left the room, one American TV producer asked Biden if he was going to address human rights concerns with Xi, the report said.
The woman was “yanked backwards by a Chinese official” after asking the question, The New York Times reported, citing AFP’s Sebastian Smith, who was filing updates as a member of the reporting pool.
AFP reported that the Chinese official pulled the journalist by her backpack and then shoved her toward the door, but White House personnel then stepped in and said she should be left alone.
News of the incident garnered a variety of responses on Twitter.
“Xi No Evil?” said Mei Fong, the chief communication officer for Human Rights Watch.
Xi No Evil? “According to Sebastian Smith, a reporter filing updates from the press pool with the president, an American television producer was yanked backwards by a Chinese official after asking Biden if he planned to bring up #humanrights .” #Xinjiang https://t.co/aKm6YJsi18
— Mei Fong/ 方凤美 (@meifongwriter) November 14, 2022
“Doesn’t matter. Nothing will come of it,” one person tweeted.
Doesn’t matter. Nothing will come of it
— Techno Arkadag (@technoarkadag) November 14, 2022
Another said it was an “act of war,” adding that “we need to cancel all American bonds held by China” and “stop all interest payments.”
I would say this is a act of war, we need to cancel all American bonds held by China, stop all interest payments.
— rick squire (@catras4040) November 14, 2022
The United States does not need to go to war over a shoved journalist, but this incident is indicative of the broader U.S.-Chinese relationship.
Tense, bordering on hostile, is what best describes the relationship, even though Biden has tried to smooth it over the past year.
But no matter how many meetings he and Xi have, no matter how many times they emphasize that a U.S.-China relationship is important, the fact of the matter is that the communist power doesn’t want the U.S. meddling in the region or countering China’s efforts to extend its sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the United States doesn’t like how China is treating the region, particularly Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet.
The two countries are not on the brink of war. Tensions may be high, but all-out war is not imminent.
Like the incident with the American journalist, the U.S. and China are in a shoving relationship. But neither side is willing to pull out a gun and shoot the other. It’s just a matter of pushing, jostling and jabbing.
It’s probably not going to go away anytime soon, and the drama will rise and fall, just like in any fistfight.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
