Joe Biden has affirmed the U.S. hard line on China’s human rights abuses and regional expansionism in his first phone call with President Xi Jinping since taking office.
Xi defended China’s policies as a matter of sovereignty, but said the US leader’s confrontation would be “a disaster” and called on both sides to restore the means to avoid misjudgments, according to state media. .
The call came just hours after Biden announced the establishment of a Pentagon task force in China and a senior State Department official meeting in person with the Taiwanese representative in the United States. USA.
U.S. support for Taiwan, which defends Beijing’s aggressions and threats of “unification,” is one of the most sensitive issues in the U.S.-China relationship, and raised by Biden during the call.
“I spoke today with President Xi to offer good wishes to the Chinese people for the lunar new year,” Biden said. “I also shared concerns about Beijing’s economic practices, human rights abuses and Taiwan coercion. I told him I would work with China when it would benefit the American people. “
An account of the White House conversation said Biden also raised repression in Hong Kong and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and China’s “increasingly vindictive actions in the region.” They also discussed global health security, climate change and preventing arms proliferation, the White House said.
Chinese state media said the two leaders had “exchanged greetings on the occasion of Chinese New Year and had an in-depth exchange of views on the bilateral relationship and major international and regional issues.” Xi also warned Biden to handle issues such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang with caution, which he said were “internal affairs” over China’s territorial integrity.
An account of the call made by the state media said Xi reiterated that cooperation was “the only right option” and that the two countries need to properly manage disputes constructively.
“Cooperation can help the two nations and the world achieve great things, while confrontation is definitely a disaster,” he said, according to a separate report from the South China Morning Post.
The Pentagon’s new working group in China is made up of 15 members led by a senior adviser to Lloyd Austin, the department’s secretary. The group will review the US military and national security strategy on China.
The Biden administration has pledged to continue to give “solid” support to Taiwan and has forecast “extreme competition” between the two countries. He has suggested that he take advantage of his familiarity with Xi from his time as vice president.
Prior to the Xi call, a senior administration official informed reporters that Biden’s team had “found the merit” in the “basic proposal of intense strategic competition with China under the Trump administration.” But we found deep problems in the way the Trump administration ran this competition, ”Axios said.
The Trump administration’s relationship with Beijing began warmly, and the White House at the time described Trump’s first phone call with the Chinese leader as “extremely cordial.” However, during his tenure, relations plummeted, with tensions over trade, the pandemic and China’s repressions and abuses against human rights and regional neighbors, including Taiwan, and the South China Sea. . U.S. arms sales to Taiwan increased dramatically under Trump, and as China’s military expanded and modernized, tensions in the strait increased.
The Biden administration is reviewing sanctions and tariffs imposed by Trump, but has said it will continue on a tougher line than was maintained during Obama’s term. It has elevated the six-decade guarantees made with the island government to the same level as the three statements describing Sino-US relations, and the Taiwan Relations Act which requires the US to provide support. material in Taiwan for self-defense.
The Chinese military has reacted aggressively. Late last month it sent more than a dozen fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft to Taiwan’s air identification zone on two consecutive days, far more than the usual departures of two or three regularly sent aircraft. last year. It was widely interpreted as a message to the newly opened Biden.
Earlier Wednesday in Washington, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, said she had met with the acting deputy secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Sung. Kim.
Hsiao said he had a “good meeting” with Kim and his team, “where we addressed many issues of mutual interest, reflecting our strong and broad partnership.”
The state department office tweeted about the image of the meeting, with the two representatives standing together and wearing masks.
“The U.S. is deepening ties with Taiwan, a leading democracy and a major economic and security partner,” he said on his Twitter account.