Biden, Xi discuss Taiwan and security in call aimed at normalizing relations – Firstpost

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in discussions on Taiwan, artificial intelligence, and security matters during a call on Tuesday, signaling a return to regular leader-to-leader dialogue between the two nations.

The call marked the first conversation between the leaders since their summit in California last November, which resulted in a reinvigoration of ties between their respective militaries and a commitment to increased cooperation in combating the trafficking of deadly fentanyl and its precursor chemicals from China.

This call initiates a series of high-level engagements between the two countries, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen scheduled to visit China on Thursday, followed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the coming weeks.

Biden has emphasized the importance of sustained interactions across all levels of government, viewing it as crucial to preventing competition between the two major economies and nuclear-armed powers from escalating into direct conflict.

While in-person summits occur approximately once a year, officials from both Washington and Beijing recognize the significance of more frequent engagements between their leaders.

During the call, the leaders addressed Taiwan, particularly in light of the upcoming inauguration of Lai Ching-te, the island’s president-elect, who has pledged to uphold its de-facto independence from China and strengthen its ties with other democracies.

Biden reiterated the United States’ longstanding adherence to the “One China” policy and reiterated opposition to any coercive measures aimed at bringing Taiwan under Beijing’s control. China views Taiwan as a domestic issue and has strongly objected to US support for the island.

Additionally, Biden expressed concerns about China’s activities in the South China Sea, including recent attempts to obstruct the Philippines, a country with which the US has a treaty obligation to defend, from resupplying its forces at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.

Next week, Biden will host Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House for a joint summit where China’s influence in the region was set to be top of the agenda.

Biden, in the call with Xi, pressed China to do more to meet its commitments to halt the flow of illegal narcotics and to schedule additional precursor chemicals to prevent their export. The pledge was made at the leaders’ summit held in Woodside, California, last year on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

At the November summit, Biden and Xi also agreed that their governments would hold formal talks on the promises and risks of advanced artificial intelligence, which are set to take place in the coming weeks.

The pair touched on the issue on Tuesday just two weeks after China and the US joined more than 120 other nations in backing a resolution at the United Nations calling for global safeguards around the emerging technology.

Biden, in the call, reinforced warnings to Xi against interfering in the 2024 elections in the US as well as against continued malicious cyberattacks against critical American infrastructure, according to a senior US administration official who previewed the call on the condition of anonymity.

He also raised concerns about human rights in China, including Hong Kong’s new restrictive national security law and its treatment of minority groups, and he raised the plight of Americans detained in or barred from leaving China.

The Democratic president also pressed China over its defense relationship with Russia, which is seeking to rebuild its industrial base as it presses forward with its invasion of Ukraine. And he called on Beijing to wield its influence over North Korea to reign in the isolated and erratic nuclear power.

As the leaders of the world’s two largest economies, Biden also raised concerns with Xi over China’s “unfair economic practices,” the official said, and reaffirmed that the US would take steps to preserve its security and economic interests, including by continuing to limit the transfer of some advanced technology to China.

The call came ahead of Yellen’s visit to Guangzhou and Beijing for a week of bilateral meetings on the subject with finance leaders from the world’s second largest economy — including Vice Premier He Lifeng, Chinese Central Bank Gov. Pan Gongsheng, former Vice Premier Liu He, American businesses and local leaders.

An advisory for the upcoming trip states that Yellen “will advocate for American workers and businesses to ensure they are treated fairly, including by pressing Chinese counterparts on unfair trade practices.”

Ahead of her trip to China, Yellen last week said that Beijing is flooding the market with green energy that “distorts global prices.” She said she intends to share her beliefs with her counterparts that Beijing’s increased production of solar energy, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries poses risks to productivity and growth to the global economy.

US lawmakers’ renewed anxiety over Chinese ownership of the popular social media app TikTok has generated new legislation that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t sell its stakes in the platform within six months of the bill’s enactment.

As chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which reviews foreign ownership of firms in the US, Yellen has ample leeway to determine how the company could remain operating in the US

Meanwhile, China’s leaders have set a goal of 5% economic growth this year despite a slowdown exacerbated by troubles in the property sector and the lingering effects of strict anti-virus measures during the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted travel, logistics, manufacturing and other industries.

China is the dominant player in batteries for electric vehicles and has a rapidly expanding auto industry that could challenge the world’s established carmakers as it goes global.

The US last year outlined plans to limit EV buyers from claiming tax credits if they purchase cars containing battery materials from China and other countries that are considered hostile to the United States. Separately, the Department of Commerce launched an investigation into the potential national security risks posed by Chinese car exports to the US

With inputs from the Associated Press