AI, North Korea, Trump: What Biden and Xi discussed in their final face-to-face meeting

President Joe Biden met face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday afternoon on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Lima, Peru — the last meeting of the Biden presidency.

They started the meeting by shaking hands. At that point, a reporter in the room asked how the leaders would discuss North Korea, and Biden replied, “peacefully.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan were on either side of the president when the meeting took place.

Xi spoke first, beginning by saying it was a “great pleasure” to see Biden again. He added that US-China relations have had “ups and downs”, but that they have stabilized in the last four years.

Xi added that it is time to look to the past, but to “treat each other as partners and friends” rather than adversaries. Xi added that stability between them benefits the whole world and that they should make a “wise choice” for the international community.

Xi: China ‘willing to work’ with Trump

The Chinese leader did not shy away from discussing the changing political landscape and spoke about the upcoming transition as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.

“China is willing to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, to carry out a sustainable transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of both peoples,” Xi added.

Biden recounted the two-decade relationship the leaders have had, Biden’s relationship as vice president and president.

“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversation has always been honest and always honest,” Biden said. “We’ve never played pranks on each other. We’ve been on each other’s side. I think that’s essential.”

“These talks avoid miscalculations and ensure that the competition between our two countries does not turn into conflict, competition, not conflict,” he added.

Biden also touched on points that senior administration officials had anticipated as key talking points: cooperation on AI and joint counternarcotics efforts. Biden noted that overdose deaths in the US are decreasing for the first time in a decade.

A reporter in the room asked Biden if he had any concerns about Trump’s relationship, but he did not respond. The same reporter asked Xi if he had any concerns about the tariffs Trump was asking for, but Xi did not respond.

AI and nuclear weapons – and Biden’s “deep concern”

A reading of the call examines some of the issues Biden and Xi discussed in their bilateral meeting. The leaders discussed two areas where they found cooperation: artificial intelligence security measures and the fight against narcotics.

They made a remarkable agreement on the safety of AI: an affirmation of the need to “maintain human control” over the use of nuclear weapons.

“Both leaders affirmed the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons,” the White House readout said. “Both leaders also emphasized the need to carefully consider the potential risks and develop AI technology in the military field in a prudent and responsible manner.”

But there were a couple of areas where the two leaders differed, one of the central issues surrounding North Korea. Recently deployed troops to fight Russia against Ukraine

“President Biden condemned the DPRK’s deployment of thousands of troops to Russia, a dangerous expansion of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, which has serious implications for peace and security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. He expressed deep concern about the PRC’s continued support for Russia’s defense industry base,” he said. his reading materials

Cross-strait issues also came up, with Biden calling for “an end to destabilizing PRC military activity around Taiwan.”

Biden also spoke of the need to “resolve the cases of American citizens wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China,” according to the reading.