Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping discuss Taiwan, artificial intelligence and fentanyl in an effort to return to regular dialogue

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan, artificial intelligence and security issues by phone on Tuesday, in a call intended to demonstrate the return to regular dialogue between the two powers, according to AP.

The call, described by the White House as “candid and constructive,” was the leaders’ first conversation since the November summit in California, which renewed the relationship between the two militaries and a promise of increased cooperation to stem the flow of fentanyl and its precursors. which comes from China.
Xi Jinping told Biden that the two countries should adhere to the conclusion of “no clashes, no confrontations” as one of the principles of this year.

“We should prioritize stability, not cause trouble, not cross lines, but maintain the overall stability of China-US relations,” Xi said, according to state-run China Central Television.

The call will be followed by several weeks of high-level engagements between the two countries, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen scheduled to travel to China on Thursday and Secretary of State Antony Blinken following her in the following weeks.

Biden pressed for sustained interactions at all levels of government, considering that they are essential to prevent reaching a direct conflict due to the competition between the two massive economies and nuclear armed powers. While in-person summits happen maybe once a year, officials said, that’s it

Washington, as well as Beijing, recognize the value of more frequent commitments between leaders.

The two leaders discussed Taiwan ahead of the inauguration next month of Lai Ching-te, the island’s president-elect, who has promised to maintain de facto independence from China and further align it with other democracies. Biden reiterated that the US opposes any coercive means to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control.

China considers Taiwan an internal matter and has strongly protested US support for the island. Taiwan remains “the first red line that must not be crossed,” Xi Jinping told Biden, and stressed that Beijing would not tolerate separatist activities by Taiwan independence forces, as well as “indulgence and foreign support,” alluding to Washington’s support for the island.

Biden also raised concerns about China’s operations in the South China Sea, including efforts last month to prevent the Philippines, which the US is treaty-bound to defend, from supplying its forces on the atoll Second Thomas disputed.

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

During the call, Biden insisted that Beijing do more to fulfill its commitments to stop the flow of illegal narcotics. The commitment was made at the leaders’ summit held in Woodside, California, last year, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

At the November summit, Biden and Xi also agreed that their governments would hold formal discussions on the promises and risks of advanced artificial intelligence in the coming weeks. The two leaders discussed the issue on Tuesday, just two weeks after China and the US joined more than 120 other nations to support a United Nations resolution calling for global safeguards on emerging technology.

Biden also raised concerns about China’s human rights record, including Hong Kong’s restrictive new national security law and the treatment of minority groups, and raised the issue of Americans detained or banned from leave China.

The Democratic president also pressed China’s relationship with Russia, which is trying to rebuild its industrial base while continuing to invade Ukraine, and called on Beijing to exert its influence on North Korea to rein in the isolated and erratic nuclear power.

As leaders of the world’s two largest economies, Biden expressed his concern to Xi about China’s “unfair economic practices,” the official said, and reiterated that the U.S. will take steps to maintain its security and economic interests, including by continuing to limit the transfer of advanced technologies to China.

On the other hand, Xi Jinping said that the US has taken more measures to suppress China’s economy, trade and technology in the past few months and that the list of sanctioned Chinese companies has become longer and longer, which “does not reduce the risk , but creates risks”.

Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said the call “reflects a mutual desire to maintain a stable relationship” as the leaders reiterated their long-standing positions on issues of concern.