Taiwan was the focus of the conversation and Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to the island.
Presidents Joe Biden of the United States and Xi Jinping of China spoke for more than two hours on Thursday about the future of their complicated relationship, with Taiwan once again emerging as a crucial source of tension.
According to a description of the call released by Beijing, Xi underscored China’s claim to sovereignty over the island, which has had an autonomous government for decades.
“Those who play with fire die by it,” the Foreign Office said. “Hopefully the United States will see this clearly,” they added.
The White House has not yet released its transcript of the call, which began at 8:33 a.m. ET and ended at 10:50 a.m. (1233-1450 GMT).
As always, China left no doubt that it holds the United States responsible for the deterioration of relations between the two countries.
“President Xi stressed that focusing and defining China-US relations in terms of strategic competition and seeing China as the main rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be a misperception of China-US relations and a misunderstanding. of China’s development and would mislead the people of the two countries and the international community,” the foreign ministry said.
Biden tries to find new ways to collaborate with China and contain its influence in the world.
Differing views of global health, economic policy and human rights have strained the relationship, and China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has added to the strain.
The most recent factor has been a possible visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which has a democratic government and informally receives defense support from the United States, but which China considers part of its territory.
Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation, a threat officials in Washington view with heightened seriousness in light of the Russian incursion into Ukraine.
“If the United States insists on going its own way and challenging China’s basic positions, there will certainly be strong responses,” spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference days ago. “The subsequent consequences will fall on the United States.”
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking elected official to travel to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich did so in 1997 when he was presiding over the House. Biden told reporters last week that the military command considers the trip at this time “not a good idea.”
John Kirby, a US national security spokesman, said Wednesday that it is important for Biden and Xi to talk regularly.
“The president wants to make sure that the lines of communication with President Xi remain open because it is necessary,” Kirby told reporters at the White House.
“There are issues where we can cooperate with China and there are issues where there is obviously friction and tension.”
The previous conversation between Biden and Xi was in March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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