On the same theme, two commentators previewed the first face-to-face bilateral national leaders’ summit between US President Joe Biden and China Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 gathering in Bali, Indonesia. Jabin T. Jacob cautioned observers not to anticipate any major breakthroughs in US-China relations as a result of the meeting. Meanwhile, Hemant Adlakha provided an argument for why the onus was on President Biden to soothe US-China relations. We also highlight our members’ activities below.

Yu Tiejun, President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, reviews three case studies of crisis management between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He says these episodes provide clues for China’s policymakers to consider as Beijing and Washington might seek to develop mechanisms for trust-building to reduce the chances of conflict between the two powers.

Jabin T. Jacob, Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University, cautioned observers not to expect any major breakthroughs to occur from the Biden-Xi bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. China’s leaders are overwhelmingly focused on ensuring their own survival in power, he says, while there is now broad bipartisan agreement in the US that China poses a strategic threat.

Hemant Adlakha, Professor of Chinese at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, argues that the onus was on President Biden to mend US-China relations ahead of his meeting with Chairman Xi at the Bali, Indonesia G20 summit. He recalls how Xi offered the public comments that the two sides have “a thousand reasons to make the China-US relationship a success,” while noting that President Biden has yet to reciprocate those remarks.