WOODSIDE (AP) — U. S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at a beautifully landscaped historic site and rural museum in San Mateo County for one-on-one conversations aimed at relations between the two nations. two superpowers.
The two leaders will meet Wednesday at Filoli, a remote farm along the coastal mountains of Northern California. It was built in 1917 as a personal apartment and later became a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Woodside estate is about 40 miles south of San Francisco. , where leaders will gather this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Conference.
The location of the meeting was revealed by three senior management officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a factor with security implications.
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Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program, said the venue likely met Xi’s expectations of a one-on-one meeting with Biden outside the summit’s main venue.
“It turns out to be a quiet and secluded area, where Biden and Xi can have an intimate verbal exchange in a calm environment,” Glaser said. “It should be noted that the venue is not similar to the APEC summit, which gives the impression that the two leaders are holding a bilateral summit separate from the multilateral APEC summit. “
Observers of China’s political elite said Xi was seeking to present himself at home as the equivalent of Biden and as someone who commands respect from a U. S. president.
The property spans more than 650 acres (2. 6 square kilometers), adding a Georgian Revival mansion and an English Revival French garden. The mansion and grounds are open every day, however, the site is closed lately for 3 days for Christmas decoration purposes, he says.
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“A position like this allows them to get away not only from the media, but also from a lot of other things that inspire conflict,” said Jeremi Suri, a professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin. By loving each other, you’ll probably start to accept each other and talk better. “
Suri says that’s what happened with U. S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union before its dissolution. The two met in a secluded castle in Reykjavik in 1986, sat in front of a fireplace and came out dressed in heavy clothes. coats, forging a relationship, Suri said.
“We want leaders who can triumph over fear,” he said.
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San Francisco socialite William Bowers Bourn II named Filoli through the first two letters of the keywords of her private creed, according to the property’s website: “Fight for a just cause. Love your neighbor. Live a smart life. “
The venue is designed for personal events, weddings, as well as filming and publicity photographs. The gardens are featured in Jennifer Lopez’s film “The Wedding Planner. “