Xi and Obama remain divided despite “success” of informal summit

President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama managed to forge policy understandings in strategic issues of North Korea and climate change after a two-day summit.


Officials from both sides said the leaders had discussed a wide range of issues in an effort to build "a new model" of relations, but the two nations remained divided over territorial disputes between China and its neighbours and cybersecurity.


State Councillor Yang Jiechi said that the two presidents had "an unprecedented" interaction and "did not shy away from differences". US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon also said that the talks were "successful in achieving the goals that we set forth for this meeting".


The leaders spent eight hours together in their first encounter since Xi became president in March. As a sign of close personal ties, Obama presented Xi, who arrived back in Beijing last night, with a Californian redwood park bench. Out on a stroll of the grounds of Sunnylands, where the leaders held their talks, Xi and Obama sat for a moment together on the bench. The surprise gift triggered some discussions among Weibo users on the mainland. "It shortens the distance between two hearts by sitting on the same bench," blogger Ping Zhongqi quipped.


The two presidents agreed to make joint efforts to reduce emissions of hydrofluorocarbons. The greenhouse gas drive was the only tangible outcome from the two-day informal summit.


Little seemed to have been agreed on other high-stakes issues like cybersecurity. Donilon said that Xi "acknowledged" how important the issue was to Washington as Obama warned that hacking was a theft of US property and "was going to be a very difficult problem in the economic relationship". Yet Xi claimed no responsibility for attacks against the US.


Also unresolved were concerns over the US "pivot to Asia”. Xi told Obama that China would resolutely protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, while Obama urged Xi to de-escalate the dispute with Japan over islets in the East China Sea. Xi also called on the US to end arms sales to Taiwan and remove restrictions on hi-tech exports to China.


Beijing Foreign Affairs University Professor Wang Fan sai that Xi had sent a firm message to Obama. "China would pay no regard to Sino-US relations were the core issue of territorial integrity not respected," Wang said.