Biden meets Xi Jinping: US-China rivalry not to turn into conflict – Taiwan red line

The President of the United States, joe biden, told his Chinese counterpart today, Xi Jinping, that they are both responsible so that that the competition between their two superpowers does not turn into a conflict, in the rare conversations they had with me in order to melt the ice in their relations which are at their worst point for decades.

The American president raised a number of difficult issues during the three-hour meeting, the first direct meeting between the two leaders since Biden became US president, according to a White House statement, including US objections to “coercive and escalating aggressive actions against Taiwan”, Beijing’s “non-market economic policies” and practices in “Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and on human rights more broadly”.

The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkenas APE-MPE notes, will travel to China following the talks, the White House said.

What does the Beijing side say?

Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden in their first face-to-face meeting since 2017 that the issue of Taiwan is “very central to China’s interests” and the “first red line” in bilateral relations that should not be violated.

In the meeting held in Bali, Indonesia, the first between the two leaders since Biden became president, Xi called on the US leader to translate US commitments to Beijing on Taiwan into tangible action.

“The Taiwan issue is very central to China’s interests, the background of the political base of China-US relations, and the first red line that should not be violated in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to a statement reported by the Xinhua news agency.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be an integral part of China. The self-ruled island’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty, while the United States has often been accused in recent years by China of encouraging Taiwan independence.