US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping began talking on the phone on Thursday morning, but it remains to be seen whether this conversation will be able to defuse the growing tensions between the two countries over Taiwan and trade.
This is the fifth virtual summit between the two officials since Mr Biden became president a year and a half ago, but the mutual defiance between China and the United States is becoming harder to hide.
Beijing and Washington are already at odds over trade. The two world powers now oppose each other because of Taiwan.
“Tensions around China’s aggressive and coercive behavior in the Indo-Pacific” will be high on the agenda, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Latest reason for friction to date: a possible trip by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
China considers the island to be one of its historic provinces which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of the country.
Opposed to any initiative that would give the Taiwanese authorities international legitimacy, it is against any official contact between Taiwan and other states.
Although US officials visit Taiwan frequently, Beijing considers a trip by Ms Pelosi, one of the highest figures in the US state, to be a major provocation.
Washington will have to “assume all the consequences” of this potential visit, which Ms Pelosi has not yet confirmed, Beijing warned on Wednesday.
General Mark Milley, the US Chief of Staff, told the press that if Nancy Pelosi requested “military support” then he would “do what is necessary to ensure the safe conduct” of his affairs.
“Safeguards”
The tensions surrounding this trip are only part of the problem. US officials fear that President Xi is mulling the use of force to impose control on Taiwan.
Once considered unlikely, an invasion, or some other form of military action, is increasingly seen by observers as possible.
Joe Biden’s contradictory statements on Taiwan — he said in May that the US would defend the island, before the White House insisted the policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ had not changed — did not help.
Although the US president prides himself on a close relationship with Mr. Xi, the two men have not seen each other since he took office, largely due to COVID-19 restrictions.
According to the White House, Mr. Biden’s main objective is to establish “safeguards” for the two superpowers.
This is to avoid open conflict despite their differences and their geopolitical rivalry.
Mr Biden “wants to make sure” that “the lines of communication with President Xi are open on all issues, whether they are issues on which we agree or issues on which we have difficulty important, that they can always pick up the phone and talk frankly to each other,” Kirby said.
Asked about Mr Biden possibly waiving some of the 25% tariffs imposed on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods by ex-President Donald Trump, the spokesperson said a decision has yet to be made. not been taken.
” We think […] that the customs tariffs put in place by his predecessor were badly designed. We believe they have increased costs for American families and small businesses, as well as ranchers,” he said, also referring to “China’s harmful trade practices.”
But “I have no decision to announce regarding tariffs from the president. He is working on it,” he concluded.
A statement will be issued after the interview, said the US executive.