Biden, Xi hold phone talks amid rising tensions over Taiwan
Asia-Pacific, News, US July 29, 2022 1 Comment on Biden, Xi hold phone talks amid rising tensions over TaiwanU.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a lengthy and candid discussion about concerns on Taiwan among other regional and global issues. The call lasted over two hours.
Chinese state media reported that Xi called on the United States to honor the one-China principle and stressed that China firmly opposed Taiwanese independence and interference of external forces.
Xi was quoted as saying that “The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan question is consistent, and resolutely safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity … The will of the people cannot be defied and those who play with fire will perish by it.”
President Xi underscored that “to approach and define China-US relations in terms of strategic competition and view China as the primary rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be misperceiving China-U.S. relations and misreading China’s development, and would mislead the people of the two countries and the international community,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
On the Taiwan issue, President Biden stressed that “the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The White House release said that the two leaders discussed a range of issues important to the bilateral relationship and other regional and global issues, and tasked their teams to continue following up on today’s conversation, in particular, to address climate change and health security.
Taiwan was the core issue discussed as the talks take place in the backdrop of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan which China considers part of its territory. If the trip happens, Pelosi would be the highest-ranking U.S. politician to visit Taiwan since 1997.
Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation. “If the U.S. insists on going its own way and challenging China’s bottom line, it will surely be met with forceful responses,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters earlier this week. “All ensuing consequences shall be borne by the U.S.”
The White House said that the phone conversation was a part of the Biden administration’s efforts to “maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC and responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align.”
The call follows the conversation between the two leaders on March 18 and a series of other conversations between high-level U.S. and Chinese officials.
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