The Dem-archs and their Retinues at Play: Brief Reflections on the Biden-Xi Meeting and the Performance of Global Diarchy (Part 2)

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 In an earlier post (here) I suggested the semiotic meaning making (from out of the bricolage of text, images, and performance rituals) that would mark the theater of the meeting of The United States of America and the People's Republic of China, embedded within the representative bodies of two collectives of natural persons circling around their respective core of leadership. States, of course, do not meet. And Leaders only rarely meet one to one, except to signal personal political coziness that can manage a perception of national coziness.  Instead, the theatricality of such meeting requires  a stage, scripts, and the symbols of props and supporting actors to produce a rich that gain power through interconnection. The props necessary for the meeting compel--at a minimum, a retinue commensurate with the status of the embodiment of the nation within the flesh of those anointed to that role (in contemporary times through the performance of liberal democratic or whole process democracy). 

 

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And the meeting lived up to its billing as theater. All of the performative elements were there. Powerful because its its ubiquity were the retinues of servers and high(erish) officials to add heft and support to the 'leader' or 'core'-archs or 'electo'-archs (one no longer speaks of mon-archs or auto-crats within the linguistic weltanschauung of liberal or socialist democracy). The term dem(o)archs (demo-krat has already assumed a linguistic life of its own) might serve us well here-- its etymology foregrounding its Greek derivation strongly: arkhein or kratia signifying rule or ruler (eg the Greek Archon).  as well as its tie to the masses over whom kratia is possible in contextually justifiable ways.

But equally resonant was the stage setting--two longish tables, resplendent with the (deliberately both over and under stated) symbols of power and authority. But my persona favorite was the neutral zone crafted between the demiarchs and their retainers and servants--a pretend idealized overactive meadow resplendent with flowers and grass  but carefully walled off by charming decorative stones. The hyper-meadow then served as the definition of a walkway that could be used to indirectly move from one large table-fortress to the other.  But it was not meant to be easy.  It WAS meant to be pretty. One learns so much more from symbols and objects, in some cases, than from the text that dutifully is made to spew from the relevant organs of state developed for that purpose (the product of which from both sides follows below).

Spectacle, power, leadership, engagement, peacock like displays of power through the architecture of the meeting room, and its decorative objects (including the respective retinues flanking out on both sides of each center. These are visual cues that are meant to be absorbed into the specific cultural contexts through which their meaning can be processed as so self evident that it hardly rises to the level of the conscious. One says much here without saying a word.  And what is said is that these two ships of state cruised alongside each other for a short while, their respective leaders signaled their respective anthems, and then they parted. That, effectively, when translated into text, is more or less what the press reported in the mind numbing though quite curatorial language of press organs. In most forms it would have read like variations of this: 'that they met at all and that they agreed to continue to communicate is itself a mark of the great success of this pageant.

 And two more performative elements.  The first was the rituals of the mask. The second were constructed around the moments of semi-awkward intimacy between the leadership cores before the  start of the pageantry of state.  The mask underscore power: only Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi are mask-less.  That is a visual performance of authority, of who can speak, and who may not. It is also a ritual of exposure. It also resonated with the politics of masks in the context of COVID. And not just of masks but of confinement.  

Pix Credit here

Pix credit here

Pix credit here

The appearance of intimacy, or at least of comfort in the company of another, is meant to provide the signalling analogy to the intimacy and comfort among the bureaucracies of both, and ultimately of the masses.  Here there was also a great deal of messaging.  The objects were quite different.  For Mr. Xi the need to underscore Chinese equality with the United States (and their superiority to their dependencies--including Russia and the DRK). For Mr. Biden, the effort to show that he has influence even with a younger brother who has become somewhat rebellious, and now with the means to remain so. Their dance  produced a complex set of steps intertwining intimacy and formality, equality and dependence. But the most important element attached to them together-the imagery was meant to underscore that the only two incarnations that mattered are them.  Everything and everyone else  would be arranged through spokes from these central hubs in rings  each more distant from the hub-metropolis. In this sense, the G20 or perhaps as President Zelenskyy noted in his speech, the G19) assumes a relational role--one that might revolve around the global duumvirate. And that, more than any agreement on anything else was worth far more to Mr. Xi than to Mr. Biden: a diarchy re`resents the retreat of the hierarch, and that concession is worth much more than the more granular babbling that filled much of the temporal space of the three hours in which the retinues spoke at leach other for the delectation of those who curate opinion and expectation. 

None of this is to suggest anything touching on the politics or normative issues--all of great importance--around which this semiotic performance was arranged, at least officially.  It is, however, to suggest that there is a world of politics beyond the obvious. The performance of politics is magic in the sense of illusion; but it is misdirection in service of managing perception.  Managerial classes are long used to cultivating a sense of that management through text; others focus on the power of performance. When combinbed textual-performative signalling can complicate and sometimes manage perception. It will be some time before thee extent of that management in Bali is made clearer, if ever.    

The text of the official self-reflections of both diarchs follows below. They are more useful when read against each other than if read in isolation.

 

 

Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met on November 14 with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in Bali, Indonesia. The two leaders spoke candidly about their respective priorities and intentions across a range of issues. President Biden explained that the United States will continue to compete vigorously with the PRC, including by investing in sources of strength at home and aligning efforts with allies and partners around the world. He reiterated that this competition should not veer into conflict and underscored that the United States and China must manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication. The two leaders discussed the importance of developing principles that would advance these goals and tasked their teams to discuss them further. 

President Biden underscored that the United States and China must work together to address transnational challenges – such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability including debt relief, health security, and global food security – because that is what the international community expects. The two leaders agreed to empower key senior officials to maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts on these and other issues. They welcomed ongoing efforts to address specific issues in U.S.-China bilateral relations, and encouraged further progress in these existing mechanisms, including through joint working groups. They also noted the importance of ties between the people of the United States and the PRC.

President Biden raised concerns about PRC practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly. On Taiwan, he laid out in detail that our one China policy has not changed, the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and the world has an interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. He raised U.S. objections to the PRC’s coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity. President Biden also raised ongoing concerns about China’s non-market economic practices, which harm American workers and families, and workers and families around the world. He again underscored that it is a priority for us to resolve the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China

The two leaders exchanged views on key regional and global challenges. President Biden raised Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Russia’s irresponsible threats of nuclear use. President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. President Biden also raised concerns about the DPRK’s provocative behavior, noted all members of the international community have an interest in encouraging the DPRK to act responsibly, and underscored the United States’ ironclad commitment to defending our Indo-Pacific Allies.

The two leaders agreed that Secretary of State Blinken will visit China to follow up on their discussions.

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Highlights of Xi-Biden meeting ahead of G20 summit in Indonesia

Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2022-11-15 01:40:15





Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, Nov. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BALI, Indonesia, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, had a candid and in-depth exchange of views here on Monday on issues of strategic importance in China-U.S. relations and on major global and regional issues.

The following are some of the highlights of their first in-person meeting since Biden became president of the United States.


PUT CHINA-U.S. TIES BACK ON TRACK

-- President Xi pointed out the current state of China-U.S. relations is not in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, and is not what the international community expects. China and the United States need to have a sense of responsibility for history, for the world and for the people, explore the right way to get along with each other in the new era, put the relationship on the right course, and bring it back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of the two countries and the world as a whole.


OPEN, TRANSPARENT DOMESTIC, FOREIGN POLICIES

-- Xi pointed out that the domestic and foreign policies of the CPC and the Chinese government are open and transparent, with clearly stated and transparent strategic intentions and great continuity and stability.

-- Xi said China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, always decides its position and attitude based on the merits of issues, and advocates resolving disputes peacefully through dialogue and consultation. China is committed to deepening and expanding global partnerships, safeguarding the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

-- China will stay committed to peaceful development, open development and win-win development, participate in and contribute to global development, and pursue common development with countries across the world, said Xi.


NOT ZERO-SUM GAME

-- Xi said China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other. The successes of China and the United States are opportunities, not challenges, for each other. The world is big enough for the two countries to develop themselves and prosper together. The two sides should form a correct perception of each other's domestic and foreign policies and strategic intentions. China-U.S. interactions should be defined by dialogue and win-win cooperation, not confrontation and zero-sum competition.

-- The two sides should respect each other, coexist in peace, pursue win-win cooperation, and work together to ensure that China-U.S. relations move forward on the right course without losing direction or speed, still less having a collision, Xi added.

-- Xi said observing the basic norms of international relations and the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques is vitally important for the two sides to manage differences and disagreements and prevent confrontation and conflict; indeed, it is the most important guardrail and safety net for China-U.S. relations.

-- There is always competition in the world, but competition should be about learning from each other to become one's better self and make progress together, not about taking others down in a zero-sum game, he added.


FIRST RED LINE

-- Xi stressed that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations.

-- Anyone that seeks to split Taiwan from China will be violating the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation; the Chinese people will absolutely not let that happen, he added.


HUMANITY'S COMMON PURSUIT

-- Xi noted that freedom, democracy and human rights are the common pursuit of humanity and also the unwavering pursuit of the CPC. Just as the United States has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy; both fit their respective national conditions. The whole-process people's democracy practiced in China is based on the country's reality, history and culture, and it reflects people's will. We take great pride in it.

-- Xi underscored that China and the United States are two major countries with different histories, cultures, social systems and development paths. There have been and will continue to be differences between the two countries. Such differences should not become an obstacle to growing China-U.S. relations.


GROWING COMMON INTERESTS

-- Xi said starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and undermine international trade rules. Such attempts serve no one's interests.

-- We oppose politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade ties as well as exchanges in science and technology, he said.

-- Under the current circumstances, China and the United States share more, not less, common interests. It is in our mutual and fundamental interest to prevent conflict and confrontation and achieve peaceful coexistence. The two economies are deeply integrated, and both face new tasks in development. It is in our mutual interest to benefit from each other's development, Xi added.


SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONSTRUCTIVE TIES

-- President Biden congratulated Xi on his election as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. As two major countries, the United States and China have a responsibility to keep a constructive relationship.

-- Biden reaffirmed that a stable and prosperous China is good for the United States and the world. The United States respects China's system, and does not seek to change it. The United States does not seek a new Cold War, does not seek to revitalize alliances against China, does not support "Taiwan independence," does not support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," and has no intention to have a conflict with China. The U.S. side has no intention to seek "de-coupling" from China, to halt China's economic development, or to contain China.

-- The U.S. government is committed to the one-China policy. It does not seek to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China, and hopes to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, said Biden.


ON UKRAINE SITUATION

-- Xi said facing a global, composite crisis like the one in Ukraine, it is important to give serious thought to the following: first, conflicts and wars produce no winner; second, there is no simple solution to a complex issue; and third, confrontation between major countries must be avoided. China has all along stood on the side of peace and will continue to encourage peace talks. We support and look forward to a resumption of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, we hope that the United States, NATO and the EU will conduct comprehensive dialogues with Russia.


MAINTAIN REGULAR CONTACT

-- Both presidents viewed the meeting as in-depth, candid and constructive. They instructed their teams to promptly follow up and implement the important common understandings reached between them, and take concrete actions to put China-U.S. relations back on the track of steady development. The two presidents agreed to maintain regular contact. ■