In the end, looking backward may be more productive for Biden and Xi than trying to predict what’s next for their two nations. Biden administration officials acknowledge they have little insight into what a notoriously unpredictable leader might be planning. What Biden can do, they argue, is reiterate to Xi the value of maintaining communication, even amid the expected contention. A key counterweight could be Biden’s legacyHow Trump confronts those threats is not something he’s discussed at great length, at least as a candidate. It’s also an area his aides believe could — and should — be continued by the incoming Trump administration, though acknowledging they have little to go on when it comes to the president-elect’s intentions.

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Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Xi, Donald Trump’s, that’s, Biden, “, Trump, Robert F, Kennedy, Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, He’s, there’s, Xi’s, ”, Jake Sullivan, aren’t, China’s, —, Obama, he’s, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, It’s, Korea’s Yoon Suk, Shigeru Ishiba Organizations: Peru CNN —, Biden, White, APEC, Xinhua, Mar, Lima Convention Center, Trump Trump, Ukraine Locations: Lima, Peru, Chengdu, China, Washington, Beijing, United States, Bali, San Francisco, Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Pyongyang, Japan, South Korea, Tokyo, Seoul, East Asia