President Joe Biden called Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on July 28. This call was the fifth between Biden and Xi Jinping and lasted more than two hours.
The call came amid a myriad of tensions in which Sino-US relations had fallen to their lowest points in decades. The White House said it was important to keep the line of communication between the two countries open, despite the declining willingness of the CCP to negotiate most issues.
“The President wants to make sure that the line of communication with President Xi remains open, because they need to do so.” Said John Kirby, White House National Security Spokesperson. “There is a problem that we can work with China, and then there is a problem that is clearly frictional and tense.”
“This is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world today and has far more impact than individual nations. The President clearly understands that and we are in that relationship. I will continue to work on it. “
Chinese state media Said The exchange was “candid and detailed,” and the two leaders promised to maintain communication.
Xi reportedly Said Biden says that was “the duty”Two great powersManages global security and tells BidenStrategic competition. “
Biden is now addressing the need to mitigate the administration’s increasingly hostile behavior while appropriately addressing China’s position as a rising force.
To that end, the conversation between Xi and Biden focused on Taiwan.
“Playing with fire will set you on fire,” Xi told Biden. “I hope the United States can understand this clearly.”
The CCP claims that Taiwan is a separate state of China. Xi has vowed to integrate the island with the mainland and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. As part of this, Taiwan has been self-governing since 1949, has never been under CCP control, and boasts a prosperous democracy and market economy.
The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is bound by a treaty that provides the weapons needed for self-defense. The government also maintains the principle of “policy of deliberate ambiguity” that neither confirms nor denies whether it will defend Taiwan in the event of China’s invasion.
The issue came to light last week when rumors emerged that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was planning a private visit to Taiwan.
The Chinese Communist Party then threatened to take “strong measures” against the United States and Taiwan if the trip passed.
Following a statement from the CCP, Biden publicly said such a trip was “not a good idea”, suggesting that the military was against it.
Biden’s statement frowned from both lawmakers and experts. They believed that they had exceeded the limits of both the president and the military in an attempt to manage the legislator’s personal travels.
Pelosi said the government might have believed that China would shoot down her plane if she visited Taiwan.
Traffic was one of the growing warlike lines of events, sometimes a hostile rhetoric emanating from the highest levels of CCP.
In May, China’s defense minister said that the Chinese Communist Party was in Taiwan. de facto Independence from being recognized internationally.
The White House did not release a call read at the time of issue.
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Andrew Thornebrooke is a reporter for The Epoch Times, which deals with China-related issues focusing on defense, military and national security. He holds a master’s degree in military history from Norridge University.