U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold one-on-one talks at the historic Filoli estate in Northern California. The meeting, aimed at improving relations between the two superpowers, will take place on Wednesday. Filoli, built in 1917, was originally a private residence but later became a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. Located about 25 miles south of San Francisco, it provides a secluded and peaceful setting away from the main summit venue of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference.
The choice of Filoli as the meeting location was revealed by three anonymous senior administration officials due to security concerns. Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, believes the estate meets Xi’s expectations for a private meeting with Biden outside of the main summit. Glaser stated that the venue offers a quiet and relaxed environment for an intimate conversation between the two leaders, giving the impression of a distinct bilateral summit separate from the multilateral APEC summit.
Observers of China’s elite politics suggest that Xi wants to project himself as an equal to Biden and gain the respect of a U.S. president in front of his domestic audience. Filoli estate spans over 650 acres and features a Georgian revival-style mansion and a formal English Renaissance-style garden. While the mansion and grounds are usually open to the public, the site is currently closed for three days for holiday decorating.
Jeremi Suri, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes that a secluded location like Filoli allows leaders to escape from the media and other factors that may contribute to conflict. He points to the example of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, who met at a secluded chateau in Reykjavik in 1986, forging a relationship that led to better communication and trust.
Filoli was named by its founder, San Francisco socialite William Bowers Bourn II, using the first two letters of key words from his personal credo: “Fight for a just cause. Love your Fellow Man. Live a Good Life.” The estate is not only used for official meetings but is also available for private events, weddings, and commercial filming. Its gardens have even been featured in Jennifer Lopez’s film “The Wedding Planner.”
Contributions to this report were made by Didi Tang and Colleen Long in San Francisco, and Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee in Washington.
