BEIJING and WASHINGTON, D. C. —President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held what a senior Biden administration official called a “check-in” call Tuesday, marking the first verbal exchange between the leaders since they met face-to-face in California in November. .
The call touched on everything from Taiwan to the Korean Peninsula scenario, synthetic intelligence, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to the Chinese Array newspaper, Xi told Biden that strategic awareness “should at all times be the first ‘button’ to be pressed” in bilateral relations. The Chinese leader also detailed his position on issues related to Hong Kong, human rights and the South China Sea, he said.
The Chinese leader warned that the “Taiwan question” was an “insurmountable red line” in bilateral relations. Xi also suggested Biden “translate” his pledge not to “become independent of Taiwan” into concrete actions, according to the statement.
Biden stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, according to a White House statement.
The two leaders also discussed the global geopolitical situation. Biden, according to the White House, raised considerations about China’s aid to Russia’s defense trade base and its effect on European and transatlantic security. Also under pressure on Washington’s “enduring commitment” to the entire denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Tuesday’s call was the first time Biden and Xi spoke since the meeting in Northern California in November. There, they agreed on a series of measures to prevent the tense meetings between the United States and China from descending into conflict, adding more common contacts at the leadership level, between the military and beyond.
Ahead of the call, a senior management official told reporters that the verbal exchange would constitute a shift in U. S. policy toward China and that the festival remained a key component.
“An intense festival requires intense international relations to manage tensions, dispel misconceptions and avoid unintentional conflicts. And this appeal is one way to do that,” said the official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the record.
Biden raised current U. S. considerations about China’s “unfair industrial policies and non-market economic practices,” according to the White House, a factor that will be front and center during Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s stop in China later this week.
The president also reiterated to his Chinese counterpart that Washington would continue to “take mandatory steps to prevent complex U. S. technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly restricting industry and investment,” the White House said.