Biden to travel to Peru, Brazil for likely last summits with world leaders

(WASHINGTON) -- President Joe Biden is taking maybe his final lap on the world stage this week with a trip to South America.

He's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, making a historic visit to the Amazon rainforest and attending two major summits.

His travel comes just about a week after the U.S. election threw into question what America's role in the world will be during the next four years under President-elect Donald Trump.

Biden will kick off his trip to South America by traveling to Lima, Peru, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. While there, he will meet with Peru's President Dina Boluarte and other world leaders.

Biden's time at APEC will likely come under heightened scrutiny because Trump has vowed to enact major tariffs that could vastly affect global trade.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden would "reinforce America's leading role in the Indo-Pacific," and touted his success in enhancing America's "strategic position" in the region during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday. Sullivan touted Biden's relationship with Indo-Pacific partners as at "a literal all-time high," and said that is "what he's going to hand off to President Trump."

On Saturday, Biden's planned sit-down with China's President Xi will be the first with his Chinese counterpart since the two men met in Woodside, California, last November. It is also expected to be their last meeting as presidents.

"This meeting between President Biden and President Xi will be an opportunity to ensure a smooth transition and also to continue to keep those channels of communication open, including those especially critical military to military channels of communication," Sullivan said.

Given that, the a senior administration official said that Biden will use the meeting as a point of reflection about how the U.S.-China relationship has evolved. The official declined to talk about what Biden's message to Xi would be about policies to expect from a Trump administration.

"I think the way I come at this question is this is a tough, complicated relationship between the U.S. and China. And so whatever the next administration decides, they're going to need to find ways to manage that tough, complicated relationship," the official said on a call with reporters.

President Biden will then head to Manaus, Brazil – in the Amazon region – to engage with "local, indigenous, and other leaders working to preserve and protect this critical ecosystem," according to the White House.

This will be a historic visit, the first time a sitting president has visited the Amazon rainforest, according to the White House. Sullivan said that the trip will "underscore his personal commitment" to combating climate change in the U.S. and around the world.

Biden's historic visit comes as the next administration will likely enact major changes when it comes to climate policy. Trump has called climate change a hoax and has promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

After that, Biden will travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in the G20 summit. Sullivan said Biden's aims in Rio will be to reassure allies despite pending differences in foreign policy as Trump prepares to take office.

“[Biden's] going to have the same message that he's had for four years as president, which is that he believes that America's allies are vital to America's national security,” Sullivan said. “They contribute to our common causes, including the cause of standing up for freedom and territorial integrity in Ukraine.”

Sullivan also said that there will be a major focus on structuring debt for low-and middle-income countries and helping finance for physical, digital and energy infrastructure. He added that geopolitical issues, including "Ukraine to the Middle East," will also be crucial.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.