The presidents of China and the US open a “line of communication”, but maintain tension over the controversy over Taiwan
Amid the escalation of tensions over Taiwan, the president, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, held an extensive telephone conversation on Thursday in an attempt by Washington to straighten out, once again, the course of the difficult relationship between the two. countries.
The fifth conversation between the leaders, lasting two hours and 17 minutes, focused on ensuring that the necessary “lines of communication” remain open when the growing economic and geopolitical tensions leave little hope for real progress in economic cooperation and change. climate.
Relations are at their most dangerous point in decades, amid growing military activity in the region that a recent report says includes moves by a US strike group and the flight of a Chinese armed drone over eastern Taiwan as the island began its operations. annual defense exercises.
A complicated relationship marked by deep differences on issues of global health, economic policy and human rights, to which is added China’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The two leaders discussed various topics, including areas of possible cooperation in a minefield of bilateral relations that includes intellectual property disputes, Beijing’s global espionage campaign and the aggressive militarization of the South China Sea.
Washington has been highly critical of China’s “zero-Covid” policy, which includes mass testing and confinement of the population to contain the spread of the coronavirus on its soil, as well as the genocide of Uyghur Muslims.
For its part, the Chinese government, which described the conversation as “productive”, spared no reproaches to Washington and through the Foreign Ministry issued a severe warning about the possible visit of a congressional delegation to Taiwan, led by the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. A plan that Beijing has fiercely attacked and that in recent weeks has crowned the latest escalation of tension between the two countries.
“Those who play with fire will die in it,” said Xi, who again reminded Biden that China is “firmly” opposed to “interference by external forces” regarding the status of Taiwan. Beijing warned that “it will never leave any kind of space for Taiwan’s independence forces”, something that Washington is expected to “see clearly”.
Xi, who considers the possible visit a provocation and a sign of tacit US support for the independence movement in Taiwan, warned that if what he considers an “existential threat to Chinese sovereignty” occurs, he will respond with forceful countermeasures. In recent weeks, the White House has tried to play down the controversial trip, calling the threats “useless and unnecessary” rhetoric that has caused “a lot of fuss” about a trip that is not yet official.
In addition to infuriating Beijing, the controversial trip has received wide media attention as it has strained relations between Pelosi and the White House, which need not add more friction to its long list of tensions with China. Biden told reporters last week that military officials don’t think the visit is “a good idea” at this point.
Asian tour
For now, the trip is not on the official itinerary for the Asia tour in early August, which includes Japan, Singapore and Indonesia. Pressed by reporters about a possible stop in Taiwan, Pelosi said Wednesday that she doesn’t talk about her plans because doing so poses a security risk. If it occurs, Pelosi would be the highest-ranking US public official to travel to the island since 1997, when Republican Newt Gingrich came as Speaker of the House.
The talk with Beijing comes as Biden tries to reduce economic dependence on China and bring back home part of the industrial manufacturing sector, with particular emphasis on the semiconductor industry, which the US has neglected in recent decades and is now presents a risk to the national economy. The White House chief, however, is considering relaxing some of the Trump-era tariffs on Chinese goods to ease the impact of soaring inflation on the domestic economy.
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