Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke at length during the night of Monday to Tuesday without settling any of their disputes, especially concerning Taiwan, the Chinese president urging his American counterpart not to “play with fire” on this issue.
The American president has warned his Chinese counterpart that the United States “strongly opposes” any “unilateral attempt to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” according to a text. published by the White House after the virtual meeting, which lasted about three and a half hours.
Xi Jinping has warned the United States “not to play with fire” over the island, which China sees as a rebellious province to return to its fold.
“The Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly tried to rely on the United States for independence and some in the United States are trying to use Taiwan to control China,” the Chinese leader noted.
“It is a very dangerous trend which amounts to playing with fire,” he said, according to statements reported by the Chinese foreign ministry.
Joe Biden also expressed his “concerns about (China’s) practices in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and human rights in general.”
And he criticized China’s trade and economic practices deemed “unfair”.
These statements contrast somewhat with the kindness displayed at the start of the meeting.
The two men greeted each other with their hands, by interposed screens, according to the images shot on either side.
Joe Biden had estimated in his opening statements that “the competition between the two countries should not turn into a conflict, whether intentional or not”.
“China and the United States must improve their communication and cooperation,” Xi Jinping said for his part, saying he was happy to see “his old friend” for the first time through screens, while their two previous exchanges had been done over the phone.
But in Washington as in Beijing, we wanted to temper expectations on this discussion.
If after the coming to power of Joe Biden, the tone has changed compared to the outbursts of the Trump era, the relationship between Washington and Beijing remains extremely tense.
Taiwan
This virtual meeting took place at a time when Xi Jinping continues to strengthen his grip on the regime.
The Chinese Communist Party passed a text last week calling on “the entire Party, army and people to unite more closely around the Central Committee of which Xi Jinping forms the heart.”
The US president, faced with an extremely divided political landscape, and a pandemic that he is struggling to eradicate, mentioned China on Monday by promulgating a gigantic infrastructure plan, supposed to allow America to “win the competition” of 21st century.
At the end of his speech, the American president repeated one of his favorite phrases: “It is never, never a good idea to bet against the American people.”