When President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, met on Saturday in Peru, they spoke directly to each other for perhaps the last time about a fierce superpower rivalry that Mr. Biden has sought to keep from spiraling into open conflict.

周六，拜登总统和中国领导人习近平在秘鲁会晤，这可能是他们之间最后一次直接讨论两个超级大国之间的激烈竞争，拜登一直试图避免这种竞争升级为公开冲突。

But both men also seemed to be addressing someone not in the room: Donald J. Trump, who has promised to take a more aggressive approach to Beijing when he becomes president again in January.

但两人似乎也在向不在场的某个人讲话：唐纳德·特朗普。特朗普已经放话，明年1月再次就任总统后将对北京采取更加强硬的态度。

Mr. Xi, in his opening remarks, offered what appeared to be a stern warning as U.S.-China relations enter a new period of uncertainty after the American election.

随着中美关系在美国大选后进入新的不确定时期，习近平在开幕致辞中似乎发出了严厉的警告。

“Make the wise choice,” he said in a conference hall at a hotel in Lima where the Chinese delegation was staying. “Keep exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other.”

在利马，他在中国代表团下榻的酒店的会议厅说道：“作出明智选择，继续探寻两个大国正确相处之道。”

In his own opening comments, Mr. Biden seemed to try to make the case for maintaining a relationship with Beijing, as Mr. Trump talks about imposing more punishing tariffs on China and picks hard-liners for top administration posts.

特朗普表示将对中国征收更严厉的关税，并选择了强硬派担任政府高级职位。拜登在开场白中则似乎试图说明与北京保持关系的理由。

“These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict — be competition, not conflict,” he said.

“这些对话可以避免误判，并确保两国之间的竞争不会演变为冲突——要竞争，不要冲突，”他说。

“That’s our responsibility, and over the last four years I think we’ve proven it’s possible to have this relationship,” Mr. Biden added before the meeting, which lasted one hour and 40 minutes.

拜登在两人的会谈前还表示，“这是我们的责任，在过去四年里，我认为我们已经证明了建立这种关系是可能的。”此次会谈持续了一小时四十分钟。

But even as Mr. Biden’s session with Mr. Xi, during a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, began with conciliatory words, it also gave the president a final chance to challenge the Chinese leader directly on some of the many issues that divide the two countries.

拜登和习近平是在亚太经合组织论坛上举行会晤的，尽管会谈以和解的言辞开始，但也给了拜登总统最后一次机会，就两国存在分歧的诸多问题直接挑战中国领导人。

As Mr. Biden — and his vision for the world — heads for the exits, China’s recent actions suggest that it has little interest in placating Washington.

随着拜登及其世界愿景的淡出，中国最近的行动表明，它对安抚华盛顿的兴趣不大。

上个月，习近平与俄罗斯总统普京在俄罗斯喀山举行峰会。美国官员对中俄关系日益密切表示担忧。

American officials have expressed alarm over China’s increasingly close relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. And Chinese hackers were recently accused of breaking into the American telecommunications system and obtaining information from the phones of U.S. officials.

美国官员对中国与俄罗斯总统普京日益密切的关系表示担忧。中国黑客最近被指控侵入美国电信系统，从美国官员的手机中获取信息。

Beijing has also continued to flex its muscle in Asia, with U.S. officials voicing growing concern about China’s military exercises around Taiwan and its broader aggression in the contested South China Sea.

北京还继续在亚洲展示实力，美国官员对中国在台湾周边的军事演习，以及在有争议的南海地区更广泛的挑衅行为表示日益担忧。

Mr. Biden pushed Mr. Xi to maintain peace in Taiwan, and pressed the Chinese leader over Beijing’s support for Russia, according to his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Mr. Biden also urged Mr. Xi to discourage North Korea from continuing to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, Mr. Sullivan said.

据拜登的国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文称，拜登敦促习近平维护台湾和平，并就北京对俄罗斯的支持向中国领导人施压。沙利文说，拜登还敦促习近平阻止朝鲜继续支持俄罗斯在乌克兰的战争。

It was unclear how receptive Mr. Xi would be to any of Mr. Biden’s entreaties, with the clock quickly winding down on his presidency. China is now focused on preparing for the return of Mr. Trump, who has threatened to punish Beijing with 60 percent tariffs on its exported goods. Mr. Trump has also chosen Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who has taken a hard line on China, as his nominee for secretary of state.

由于拜登的总统任期很快即将结束，目前尚不清楚习近平会在多大程度上接受拜登的任何请求。中国现在正专注于为特朗普的回归做准备，后者威胁要对中国出口的商品加征六成关税。特朗普还提名对华持强硬立场的佛罗里达州共和党参议员马可·卢比奥担任国务卿。

In his remarks, Mr. Xi signaled an openness to cooperation with the incoming Trump White House. But he struck a tough, blunt tone about the rivalry between the two superpowers.

习近平在讲话中表示，中方愿意与即将上任的特朗普政府合作。但对于两个超级大国之间的竞争，他采取了强硬而直率的语气。

“The ‘new Cold War’ cannot be fought and cannot be won, and containment of China is unwise, undesirable, and will not succeed,” he said, according to a Chinese government summary of the meeting.

据中国政府对此次会议的通报，他说：“‘新冷战’打不得也打不赢，对华遏制不明智、不可取，更不会得逞。”

洛杉矶港的集装箱。特朗普已表示将对中国征收更高关税。

Chief among his concerns, Mr. Xi made clear, was that the United States tread carefully in its approach to Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its territory. Mr. Xi said that if the United States wanted to maintain peace in the region, it must oppose “Taiwan independence clearly.” He made an unusually specific reference to Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, a possible warning to the incoming Trump administration about potential contact between the leaders.

习近平明确表示，他最关切的是美方在对台问题上要谨慎行事。中国声称台湾是其领土。习近平表示，如果美国想维护地区和平，必须“旗帜鲜明地反对台独”。他还罕见地特别提到了台湾总统赖清德，这可能是在警告即将上任的特朗普政府不要与其接触。

Mr. Xi defended China’s position on the war in Ukraine as aboveboard and neutral. In a warning to the United States and its allies in the region, he said that he would not allow “war and chaos” in the Korean Peninsula and would not “sit idly by and watch” as China’s security and core interests there were threatened. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman was more direct, accusing the United States of “smearing and scapegoating China” on these issues.

习近平为中国在乌克兰战争问题上的立场辩护，称中国光明磊落、持中立立场。在对美国及其地区盟友发出的警告中，他说，他不会允许朝鲜半岛“生战生乱”，也不会“坐视”中国的战略安全和核心利益受到威胁。中国外交部发言人的言论则更为直接，指责美国在这些问题上对中国“抹黑污蔑和甩锅推责”。

Mr. Xi urged the United States not to intervene in the South China Sea, where China’s Coast Guard has grown more willing to use force to drive out the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States. And he rejected the hacking accusations as baseless.

习近平敦促美国不要干预南海问题，中国海警越来越愿意使用武力驱逐美国的条约盟友菲律宾。他还否认了黑客指控，称其毫无根据。

Still, the two nations sought to show that they could work on key issues. They agreed on Saturday to maintain control over nuclear weapons by humans, rather than artificial intelligence. Mr. Sullivan acknowledged the difficulty of ensuring that the new administration would respect any commitment agreed to on Saturday.

尽管如此，两国仍试图表明，它们可以在关键问题上合作。两名领导人周六同意保持人类对核武器的控制，而非由人工智能来控制。沙利文承认，确保新政府遵守周六达成的任何承诺存在困难。

“The incoming administration is not in the business of providing us assurances about anything,” Mr. Sullivan said. “They’ll make their own decisions as they go forward.”

“即将上任的政府不会向我们保证任何事情，”沙利文说。“他们会在事务推进的过程中做出自己的决定。”

Mr. Biden raised the U.S. goal of transforming a Kenya-led and largely U.S.-funded security mission in Haiti to combat gangs into a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission. China has expressed opposition to such a shift. Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Xi did not indicate any change in his position.

拜登提出了美国的目标：将在海地打击黑帮的稳定特派团转变为正式的联合国维和特派团，这个特派团由肯尼亚领导、主要由美国资助。中国此前一直对这一转变表示反对。沙利文说，习近平没有显示其立场有任何改变的迹象。

拜登政府希望将肯尼亚领导的海地稳定特派团转变为正式的联合国特派团，维持和平任务。

The Biden administration in many ways continued the tough approach toward Beijing initiated by the first Trump administration, including on tariffs, while adding restrictions intended to slow the Chinese military’s technological advancements.

在许多方面，包括关税政策在内，拜登政府在延续了特朗普第一届政府对北京采取的强硬政策的同时，增加了旨在减缓中国军事技术进步的限制。

Mr. Biden’s top aides said that countering Beijing, particularly around the Taiwan Strait, must be a continued priority for the next administration.

拜登的高级助手表示，对抗北京必须继续成为下届政府的优先事项，特别是在台湾海峡周边。

For the past year, the Biden administration has tried to smooth tensions with China after the relationship hit a low point over a Chinese spy balloon that drifted over the United States and was ordered shot down by Mr. Biden. The two nations also tangled after Mr. Biden twice called Mr. Xi a “dictator” last year.

过去一年，拜登政府试图缓和与中国的紧张关系，此前由于中国侦察气球飘过美国上空并被拜登下令击落，两国关系跌至低点。去年，拜登两次称习近平为“独裁者”后，两国关系复杂化。

The White House has pointed to its shuttle diplomacy and efforts to open lines of communication as important steps in avoiding a spiral in relations.

白宫指出，拜登政府的穿梭外交和建立沟通渠道的努力是避免两国关系恶化的重要步骤。

Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi last met face to face in November 2023 in Northern California, where officials from both nations signaled a small improvement in the relationship. Since then, Mr. Biden’s aides have described steady progress in talks with Beijing and credited China’s effort to stem the flow of materials used to produce fentanyl.

拜登和习近平最后一次面对面会晤是2023年11月于北加州，当时两国官员均表示双方关系略有改善。自那以后，拜登的助手们描述了与北京谈判的稳步进展，并称赞中国为阻止用于生产芬太尼的原材料流动所做的努力。

去年11月，拜登和习近平在加利福尼亚州伍德赛德。

Still, even as Mr. Biden has sought to steady relations, the fierce competition between the two countries was on vivid display during the APEC meeting in Lima.

尽管如此，即使拜登试图稳定两国关系，两国之间的激烈竞争还是在利马举行的亚太经合组织会议期间得到生动展示。

China has courted Peru as part of a broader strategy to invest in smaller powers that feel neglected by the West. Earlier this week, Mr. Xi joined President Dina Boluarte of Peru to open a Chinese-funded port in a city 40 miles north of Lima.

中国一直在对秘鲁示好，这是它对那些感到被西方忽视的小国进行投资的更广泛战略的一部分。本周早些时候，习近平与秘鲁总统迪娜·博鲁阿尔特一起为一个由中国投资的港口举行开港仪式，港口所在城市位于利马以北约50公里处。

Washington has warned that such projects could be used by the Chinese military in the future and potentially bring national security risks.

华盛顿已发出过相关警告：这类项目将来可能被中国军方利用，带来国家安全风险。

Mr. Biden has often cited his long and complicated relationship with Mr. Xi as evidence of his diplomatic skills. He often speaks of getting to know Mr. Xi when he was the vice president in the administration of President Barack Obama.

拜登经常提到他与习近平之间长期而复杂的关系，以此证明他的外交技巧。他时常指出，自己在担任奥巴马政府的副总统时就结识了习近平。

After returning to the White House from China in 2011, Mr. Biden told his aides that “I think we’ve got our hands full with this guy.”

2011年，从中国返回白宫后，拜登告诉他的助手们，“我觉得这个人有得我们忙了。”

But soon, the relationship with Mr. Xi will no longer be Mr. Biden’s responsibility to manage.

但很快，处理与习近平的关系就不再是拜登的责任了。