Biden is shown who’s boss as China’s Xi Jinping gets red carpet treatment while lame duck Joe goes low-key

President Joe Biden arrived in Lima, Peru on Thursday for his diplomatic swan song – but it was Chinese President Xi Jinping who received a hero’s welcome.

The Chinese leader was treated to an elaborate red carpet ceremony outside the country’s government palace, complete with military honors, sword-wielding troops in dress uniforms, a military band and horsemen as part of an official state visit.

Xi greeted Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, refraining from greetings as the two walked the red carpet into the ornate palace, on a trip where they will celebrate a massive Chinese infrastructure investment.

Biden, meanwhile, landed aboard Air Force One at the country’s Jorge Chavez International Airport, with plans to attend meetings on Friday where he will meet with leaders from the Asia-Pacific region who have already turned their gaze to the disorienting return of Donald Trump. .

He was greeted by a military cordon of blue uniforms and white gloves as he stepped off the presidential plane. Joining him on the diplomatic farewell tour were granddaughter Natalie Biden and daughter Ashley.

Biden then greeted Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen and climbed into ‘the Beast’, his presidential limousine. He put on his Ray Bans, drove to his luxury hotel and called it a day.

Biden has long prided himself on the kind of personal diplomacy achieved at global gatherings such as the annual APEC summit. Now he faces fellow leaders after his party was swept from power by the man he called a threat to American democracy.

With just two months left in his term, Biden is a “super lame duck” overshadowed by both his returning nemesis he vowed to defeat and the imposing figure of China’s Xi Jinping.

The Trump factor is so strong that world leaders are exchanging notes on their interactions with the returning president. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto about his recent conversation with Trump.

“He had a phone call with President Trump, as did I last week, so we discussed that and what it could mean for the world,” he told reporters. “It’s clear that this is part of the backdrop to APEC and that the impact of a change in the US administration will be the impact of the G20.”

Biden will meet Xi on the sidelines of the meetings on Saturday. But Xi, whose country has eclipsed the US as Peru’s top trading partner, was already making his interest known.

The two governments had planned a grand opening of a massive Chinese-funded port project in Chancay just before the start of the summit. The opening was scheduled to take place just minutes after Biden landed in the Peruvian capital. The massive project is viewed with suspicion in Washington, and officials are monitoring it for possible military applications.

“We should jointly build and properly manage the Chancay Port so that ‘From Chancay to Shanghai’ truly becomes a prosperous path to promote the joint development of China-Peru and China-Latin America,” Xi wrote in an op-ed in the local newspaper El Peruano.

While Xi also made an official state visit to Peru, he was given an elaborate welcome ceremony when he met Peruvian President Dina Boluarte at the Government Palace.

The U.S. wants to steer the relationship “through this delicate transition period where we want to maintain some degree of stability,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Trump flexed his muscles again in DC and Florida by challenging Senate Republicans to oppose his nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who fought a House Ethics Committee investigation into sex trafficking allegations .

In addition to all the geopolitical tensions, there were also security tensions. The leaders met a day after a suicide bomber armed with explosives blew himself up at Brazil’s Supreme Court in Brasilia, days before G20 leaders, including Biden, were due to meet in Rio de Janeiro.

There was already tight security in Lima, where Biden is just one of 21 leaders attending the Asia Pacific Economic Conference. Peruvian authorities have put 15,000 police and soldiers on the streets amid protests over public safety.

Students have been kept home for ‘remote’ classes and people have been asked to telecommute to free up some of the Peruvian capital’s notorious traffic. Protesters who have raised concerns about public safety and gang clashes have clashed with police in riot gear outside the summit.

Armored police vehicles are present in some of the city’s most visited neighborhoods, and law enforcement officers and security officers take up prominent positions outside hotels hosting visiting delegations.

The 81-year-old lame duck president brought along granddaughter Natalie, days after attending an event memorializing her late father Beau in Biden’s hometown of Claymont, Delaware. Natalie is Beau’s only daughter.

“He is not just a lame duck, but a super lame duck, because his successor will have very different policies,” Erin Murphy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the AP.

Also joining us is former Senator Chris Dodd, a longtime friend and former colleague who is his special adviser on America.

Biden is joining the conference despite telling his allies at the 2021 Munich Security Conference that “America is back; the transatlantic alliance is back. And we won’t look back. We are looking forward to it together.’

“He promised that America is back and instead Donald Trump is back,” Richard Haass, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, mused on CNN.

A meeting is also scheduled with Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the Democratic president has sought to strengthen ties between Japan and South Korea to counter a rising China .

Ishiba reportedly wants to meet Trump in the United States before returning to Japan.

During a press call organized by the Biden administration, a senior administration official answered question after question from reporters wanting to know how Trump’s stunning election victory would affect the summit or undermine Biden’s message.

“If you have any questions about what they plan to do, I will refer you to the new administration. We really can’t comment on that,” was one variant of the answer.