President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke on the phone in “candid” conversations on Thursday, with Xi reportedly cautioning Biden against “playing with fire” in regards to Taiwan.
The virtual conference, which lasted more than two hours, occurred as Beijing and Washington ran the risk of escalating their standoff over the self-governing island, which China views as a part of its territory.
Despite the fact that this was Biden’s fifth conversation with Xi since taking office a year and a half ago, it is becoming more difficult to conceal the growing hostility between the two nations in the midst of a trade war and tensions over Taiwan.
The most recent issue is a potential visit by Nancy Pelosi, a supporter of Biden and speaker of the House, to the island, which has its own unique democratic system.
According to John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, “tensions over China’s aggressive, coercive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific”—the phrase used by the US government to refer to the Asia-Pacific region—would be high on the agenda.
Beijing views Pelosi’s travel as a significant provocation despite the fact that US leaders often visit Taiwan, which is only connected to the Chinese mainland by a small stretch of water. She is the second in line for the US presidency and is so eligible to use military transportation.
I hope the US side fully understand that,” Xi told Biden.
“The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan issue is consistent,'” Xi was quoted as saying. “It is the firm will of the over 1.4 billion Chinese people to firmly safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
