President Joe Biden has promised that there will be no “new Cold War” with China, following a mollifying meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He further mentioned that he did not believe China would invade Taiwan.
In a three-hour meeting held at a luxury hotel, the leaders discussed a wide range of topics including Taiwan. The self-ruled island, of Taiwan, considers the United States as an ally and has always been a thorny issue in US-China relations.
Tensions flared in August when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China responded with large-scale military exercises around the island, prompting fears of a possible conflict between the US and China.
A readout to Chinese state media said Mr. Xi had stressed that Taiwan remained “the core of China’s core interests… and the first red line in US-China relations that cannot be crossed”.
Reporters on Monday asked Mr. Biden if he believed this to be true and if he thought a new Cold War was brewing.
“I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War. I have met many times with Xi Jinping and we were candid and clear with one another across the board. I do not think there is any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan. I made it clear we want to see cross-strait issues be peacefully resolved and so it never has to come to that. And I’m convinced that he understood what I was saying, I understood what he was saying.”
Joe Biden
Biden disclosed that the two leaders had agreed to establish a mechanism where there would be dialogues at key levels of government to resolve issues.
He added that he had made it clear that the United States policy towards Taiwan has not changed at all.
Mr. Biden has repeatedly said the US will defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China. The US has long walked a tightrope over the Taiwan issue.
A cornerstone of its relationship with Beijing is the One China policy, where Washington acknowledges only one Chinese government – in Beijing – and has no formal ties with Taiwan.
But it also maintains close relations with Taiwan and sells arms to it under the Taiwan Relations Act, which states that the US must provide the island with the means to defend itself.
Competition, Not Conflict
Besides Taiwan, Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden’s discussion also covered concerns over North Korea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Biden also raised concerns about human rights issues in China, including the treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet.
Both leaders strived to signal to each other and to the rest of the world watching their meeting, that they were aware that global stability rested on relations between their two countries, and that they would act responsibly.
In recent days, Mr. Biden and United States officials have struggled to express their aim of conciliation. They stressed repeatedly that the United States does not want conflict with China while maintaining a sense of strong competition.
Xi Jinping seemed to be on the same page, acknowledging in the meeting’s opening remarks that “we need to chart the right course for the China-US relationship”, given that “the world has come to a crossroads.”
Mr. Xi finalized his thoughts by saying, “China-US relations should not be a zero-sum game in which you rise and I fall… the wide Earth is fully capable of accommodating the development and common prosperity of China and the United States.”
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