SVG
Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Placating Xi Won’t Change China’s Behavior

Beijing is undermining US interests worldwide, but there are ways of forcing concessions.

United States President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on November 14, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)t
Caption
United States President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on November 14, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)t

In an article previewing President Biden’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the U.S. has “a pragmatic economic strategy: one that protects our vital national security interests while seeking a stable and healthy economic relationship” with Beijing. But in the perilous and fast-changing world of late 2023, Beijing doesn’t seem interested in that sort of balance. From supporting other authoritarians’ military efforts to trying to displace the U.S.-led global financial system, Mr. Xi is undermining the security of America and its allies. But China’s weakening economy offers an opportunity to win meaningful changes in Beijing’s policies. It will take a hard-line approach to get China’s attention.

Mr. Xi certainly won’t be soft in negotiations. He knows two major wars have sapped America’s diplomatic and military resources—in part because of China’s efforts.

Mr. Xi has tried to create an alternative to the Western financial and economic system created by the Bretton Woods Agreement. A major component of Beijing’s program is undermining the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency and principal medium of global payments. That system—in combination with Western dominance of high-tech industries—allows the U.S. and allies to enforce sanctions.