‘Awkward’ Joe Biden pushed to corner in APEC family photo while China’s Xi Jinping gets ‘honourable’ position

The family photo of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Peru has triggered a controversy in the US with many feeling President Joe Biden was “humiliated” by being made to stand in the back corner. On the other hand, Chinese President Xi Jinping got an “honourable position” on the front centre along with the host country Peru’s President Dina Boluarte.

The video of the group photo shows Biden arriving last for the family photo before taking his position between back-row leaders of Thailand and Vietnam. The rest of the leaders prepared to pose onstage before looking around to find Biden missing. He later walked in to stand between Thailand’s 38-year-old Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Vietnam President Luong Cuong. Biden was also seen reaching for Shinawatra’s hand to steady himself.

Though the order of leaders posing is often arranged in an alphabetic order, it is rarely followed. When Trump posed for the APEC photo in 2017 in Vietnam, he took a centre spot in both photos, once in the front row and once in the back.

However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got a position in the front row with Xi Jinping along with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. All leaders were seen clad in brown traditional scarves, a part of the summit’s ritual.

The image has triggered Republicans who claim the “photo is a metaphor for his presidency” and that the world leaders don’t anymore take him seriously. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) told The New York Post that the APEC should have invited President-elect Donald Trump. “I’m sure he would’ve been in the centre of the photo with Xi Jinping,” she added.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-New Jersey) called Biden a lame duck and said that the photo is a metaphor for his presidency. “A picture is worth a thousand words — and this picture says it all,” he said.

However, the White House has defended Biden’s position, stating that he has not been snubbed and that the President took the position assigned to him. “It is the same assigned order APEC used in both 2008 and 2016,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett told The Post. She added that former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama too posed similarly in earlier APEC meetings.

The APEC summit also saw Xi receiving a warm welcome in Peru, partly due to China’s recent funding for a large new port on Peru’s coast.

Before leaving for Peru, Biden met with Xi at the Chinese leader’s hotel for the final time of his presidency.

After the meeting in Lima, Xi said he would work with Trump to maintain communication and that the goal of a stable relationship with the US would continue. “China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences,” Xi said.

Biden said strategic competition between the two global powers should not escalate into war. “Our two countries cannot let any of this competition veer into conflict. That is our responsibility and over the last four years I think we’ve proven it’s possible to have this relationship,” he said.