WASHINGTON — The United States and China are planning a call between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in the coming days, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
This call would follow their last conversation in April 2024 and their face-to-face meeting in Woodside, California, in November 2023.
After his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that both sides “emphasized the need to maintain open lines of communication” between the Chinese and American leaders.
“We also agreed on the importance of the leaders communicating. And so, I fully anticipate that we’ll see that in the week and months ahead,” said Blinken in New York last week.
Ukraine
U.S. officials have said that they seek opportunities, whenever possible, to find common ground with China, whether on issues such as fentanyl or discussions on artificial intelligence risks and safety. China’s material support for Russia in the war on Ukraine is expected to be a key topic on the U.S. agenda.
On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the U.S. does not seek to “contain or constrain China” but wants to ensure an ongoing dialogue and that the competition between the two countries remains “stable and [does] not trend to conflict.”
He also reiterated the U.S. and its allies’ growing concern over Chinese firms supplying drones to Moscow, which have significantly bolstered Russia’s battlefield capabilities in its war against Ukraine.
“What we’ve seen over the course of last two years is a reconstitution of the Russian military with a rapidity and determination that frankly surprises us. The level of Russian militarization, its ability to rebuild its tanks, its missiles, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], with the assistance of China, support from North Korea, also from Iran. That has been a topic of real anxiety,” said Campbell during an online moderated conversation at the Washington-based think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Now we’re in a situation where Russia is seeking to change the territorial lines of Europe, and the fact that China is backing this so substantially is a topic of real concern,” he said.
75th anniversary
This week, China marks 75 years of Communist Party rule. In Beijing, Xi reiterated his party’s plans to “reunite” China with Taiwan.
“The wheel of history will not be stopped by any individual or any force,” Xi said during a recent reception, without naming specific individuals or governments. He added that it is “where the greater national interest lies” and “what the people desire.”
Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang, or KMT, in a civil war, prompting Chiang and his followers to relocate to the island.
In 2000, following Taiwan’s second democratic presidential election, the KMT peacefully transferred power for the first time to the Democratic Progressive Party.
While the Chinese Communist Party has never governed Taiwan, it consistently insists that Taiwan must be brought under its rule, by force if necessary.
For decades, however, the U.S. has made it clear that its decision to switch diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China — Taiwan’s formal name — to Beijing or the People’s Republic of China in 1979 was based on the expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” as outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act. Under this act, the U.S. has provided arms to support Taiwan’s defense.
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved $567 million in defense assistance for Taiwan, as China intensifies its political and military pressure on the self-ruled democracy.
In a statement, Biden announced that he has authorized Blinken “to direct the drawdown of up to $567 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan.”
In Beijing, Chinese officials urged the U.S. to “stop arming Taiwan in any way.”
Lin Jian, spokesperson for the PRC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters during a Monday briefing that “no matter how many weapons the United States provides to Taiwan,” it will not shake the Beijing government’s firm determination “to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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