Biden and Xi Jinping discuss Russia’s war with Ukraine, Taiwan, election security, and the fight against drugs.

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President Joe Biden held a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday morning to address U. S. considerations about China’s industry with Russia amid the war with Ukraine, the issues of cyberattacks and election interference, as well as efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking, among others. other regional and global issues. ” It’s important,” the White House said.

The “verification” call between Biden and Xi, their first conversation since November, was an opportunity for them to communicate on some difficult issues and verify that the two countries responsibly manage their competence, a senior administration official said. in a phone call with reporters Monday night.

“An intense festival demands intense international relations to manage tensions, dispel misconceptions and avoid unintentional conflicts, and this call is one way to do that,” the official said.

China’s relationship with Russia was discussed, as that country wages a war against Ukraine, the White House said in a statement of the call, a topic that has been part of diplomatic talks between the United States and China since the start of the war. senior management said, an official said. The U. S. is increasingly involved in China helping to rebuild Russia’s defense trade base, the official said.

At a White House news conference on Tuesday, national communications security adviser John Kirby said the two leaders spoke for about an hour and forty-five minutes during the call, which was intended to build on their meeting in Woodside, California, in November of last year.

When asked what Biden’s message is to Xi about disinformation campaigns or election interference efforts by the Chinese government or others connected to it, Kirthrough said the government has been transparent about its concerns about election security in the U. S. He praised the efforts of some foreign actors, and added some from China, to influence the 2024 elections.

Biden’s leadership has undertaken a whole-of-government effort to protect elections from foreign adversaries and continues to underscore considerations about China and other countries, the senior official said in the run-up to the call, adding that it is not enough to make the decision The Chinese keep their word when they say whether they will take action on this and other issues. but that requires verification of Beijing’s efforts. The administration also pledges to convey to the Chinese government U. S. considerations on cyberattacks that compromise critical infrastructure. the official said.

The call is an opportunity for Biden to reaffirm the long-standing “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as China’s sole legal government as a component of Xi’s efforts to reunify Taiwan with mainland China, and to reiterate the importance of peace and stability around the world. Taiwan Strait, especially in connection with the May presidential inauguration in Taiwan, the senior management official said. Another possible topic of discussion is U. S. considerations on China’s destabilizing moves in the South China Sea, adding recent moves via Chinese coast guard vessels that pose risks to the Philippines’ regime’s maritime operations, the official said.

China’s state-run Xinhua news outlet reported that during their “frank and in-depth exchange of views,” Xi was under pressure that the Taiwan factor was “the insurmountable first red line” in China-U. S. relations. relations. trade.

“We will not allow separatist activities, external collusion and forces for ‘Taiwan independence’ to go unchecked,” Xi said. “We expect the United States to put into practice, Mr. President, that it does not want ‘Taiwan independence. ‘”

While Biden and Xi last spoke by phone in July 2022, the two leaders met in Bali in November 2022 and held a summit assembly in California in November last year, the senior management official noted.

In a readout of the call, the White House said Biden and Xi had a “frank and constructive discussion on a variety of bilateral, regional and global issues, adding spaces for cooperation and spaces for divergence. “

The leaders reviewed and encouraged progress on key issues, such as counternarcotics cooperation, military-to-military communication, the dangers of synthetic intelligence and climate issues, the White House said.

Biden underscored the U. S. commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the White House said.

Kirby added at the briefing that Biden had insisted on the U. S. interest in having Chinese company ByteDance divest its ownership of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, a concept that U. S. lawmakers have presented as a way to achieve national security and the protection of U. S. citizens’ data. .

Kirthrough also said Biden had been “very clear” with Xi about his “significant differences of opinion and considerations about certain unfair market practices” used in China that put the U. S. at a disadvantage.

According to Xinhua, Xi accused the U. S. of “launching a relentless stream of measures to suppress” China’s economy, industry, and technology, noting that the U. S. has a developing list of sanctions against Chinese companies.

“This is not ‘threat suppression,’ but threat creation,” Xi said. “If the U. S. is willing to generate mutually favorable cooperation and percentage of the dividends of China’s progress, China’s door will be open; If the U. S. persists in suppressing China’s high-tech advance and depriving it of its valid right to progress, we will not sit idly by.

The White House said Biden and Xi expressed a desire to keep channels of communication open through high-level international relations and working consultations in the coming weeks and months, adding long-term visits through Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

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