SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese Xi Jinping You will meet in a historic country house and a museum with luxurious gardens one-to-one meeting Aimed at improving relations between the two superpowers.
The two leaders will meet on Wednesday in Filoli, a secluded estate on the coast of Northern California. It was built in 1917 as a private residence and later became a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. The estate is located approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of California. San Francisco, leaders from various countries will gather in San Francisco this week to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting.
Three senior government officials spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal the location of the meeting to discuss issues involving security.
Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund, said the location likely meets Xi Jinping’s desire to hold a private meeting with Biden outside the main venue of the summit.
“This appears to be a quiet, secluded estate where Biden and Xi Jinping can have an intimate conversation in a relaxed setting,” Glaser said. “Importantly, the venue has nothing to do with the APEC summit, so it appears the two leaders are meeting Hold a bilateral summit that is different from the multilateral APEC summit.”
Elite Chinese political observers say Xi hopes to present himself as an equal to Biden to domestic audiences and win the respect of the U.S. president.
The estate covers more than 650 acres (2.6 km²) and includes a Georgian Revival mansion and formal English Renaissance-style gardens. The mansion and grounds are open daily, but the site is currently closed for three days for holiday decorations, its website says.
“A place like this would allow them to get away not only from the media but from a lot of other things that fuel conflict,” said Jeremi Suri, a professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin. “They liked each other, probably. Will start to trust each other and communicate better. “
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader before the collapse of the Soviet Union, wore this style, Suri said. The two met in 1986 at a secluded castle in Reykjavík, sat by a fireplace and walked outdoors in heavy coats to build a relationship, Suri said.
“We need leaders who can overcome fear,” he said.
San Francisco socialite William Bowers Bourn II was named Filoli, after the first two letters of a key word in his personal credo, “for Fight justly. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.”
The venue can accommodate private events, weddings as well as commercial shoots and photography. The garden was used as a scene in Jennifer Lopez’s movie “The Wedding Planner.”
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Associated Press writers Didi Tang and Colleen Long in San Francisco and Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.