Wars in Israel and Ukraine complicate APEC summit as Biden prepares to meet with China's Xi Jinping

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President Biden will travel to San Francisco and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for a high-stakes meeting at the 30th annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The showdown between the leaders of the world's two largest economies, who are on the opposite end of many issues, is likely to dominate the summit. For Biden, it will be an opportunity to highlight some of the areas where cooperation is possible, while also issuing stern warnings on key U.S. national interests in the region. The Chinese president will likely assert China’s ability to influence global affairs and act as a mediator in some of the world's conflicts.

APEC is a coalition of nations with conflicting interests and values. It groups member economies and not nations and covers nearly 40% of the global population, about 62% of GDP and almost half of global trade, according to the State Department.  Participants include Taiwan, an island territory that Beijing considers part of China but the U.S. backs with military support.

This will be the first meeting between Biden and Xi since they met on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Bali in November 2022. Biden’s meeting with Xi comes after several high-level U.S. officials met with their Chinese counterparts to ease tensions after the spy balloon incident earlier this year.

The U.S. and China are fundamentally at odds on many issues, and there are low expectations the meeting will yield significant results.

"There is no need for President Biden to meet with Xi Jinping to talk about Ukraine and Israel next Wednesday," China expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital. "If Biden wants Beijing to stop supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and Iran’s war on Israel, he needs to impose severe costs on China."