Desk Report
Publish: 16 Nov 2021, 06:10 pm
A screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a virtual meeting with US President Joe Biden via video link, at a restaurant in Beijing, China November 16, 2021 || REUTERS
US President
Joe Biden pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights in a video call
lasting more than three hours, while Xi Jinping warned that China would respond
to provocations on Taiwan, according to official accounts of the exchange.
The closely
scrutinised conversation between the leaders of the world's biggest economies
was described by both sides as frank and direct as the two sides tried to lower
the temperature and avoid conflict.
The talks,
which began on Monday evening in Washington - Tuesday morning in Beijing -
appeared to yield no immediate outcomes, but gave the two leaders opportunity
to nudge their relations away from icy confrontation, even as they stuck to
entrenched positions.
They discussed
North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, global energy markets, trade and competition,
climate, military issues, the pandemic and other areas where they frequently
disagree.
Xi, who has not
left his country since Covid-19 spread worldwide from the central Chinese city
of Wuhan nearly two years ago, compared the two countries to "two giant
ships sailing in the sea" that needed to be steadied so they didn't
collide, Chinese state media reported.
"I hope
that, Mr President, you can exercise political leadership to return the United
States' China policy to a rational and pragmatic track," Xi told Biden,
according to Xinhua, a reference to tough-on-China policies that Beijing hoped
would be rolled back after Biden came to office.
Biden spoke of
avoiding conflict as well.
"It seems
to me our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure
that our competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether
intended or unintended," Biden said during a short exchange observed by
reporters at the start of the meeting. "Just simple, straightforward
competition."
The leaders had
a "healthy debate", a senior US official said afterwards. Biden
stressed the importance of China fulfilling its commitments under a trade pact
negotiated with Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, the US official said.
China is
lagging in a commitment to buy $200 billion more in US goods and services, but
Xi told Biden that it was important to avoid politicizing the issue.
The two also
discussed taking measures to address global energy supplies, US officials said.
The contentious
issue of whether the United States will send White House envoys to the Beijing
Winter Olympics in February did not come up, the US official said.
Chinese state
media struck an upbeat tone.
"The
summit could be taken as a sign that the two economic and political
heavyweights could at least avoid a further deterioration in their ties after
four years of damage caused by the reckless Trump administration," Wen
Sheng, a Global Times editor, wrote in a commentary.
Red line for
Taiwan
Sharp
differences over the self-ruled island of Taiwan remain.
While Biden
reiterated long-standing US support for the "One China" policy under
which it officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, he also said he
"strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine
peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait", the White House said.
Xi said those
in Taiwan who seek independence, and their supporters in the United States,
were "playing with fire", according to Xinhua.
"China is
patient and seeks peaceful reunification with great sincerity and effort, but
if Taiwan secessionists provoke, or even cross the red line, we will have to take
decisive measures," he said.
A US official
said "there was nothing new established in the form of guard rails or any
other understandings" on Taiwan, though Biden raised "very clear
concerns."
China claims
the island as its own. Beijing has vowed to bring the island under Chinese
control, by force if necessary, and tensions across the Taiwan Strait have
escalated in recent months.
Beijing objects
to Washington's efforts to carve out more space for Taiwan in the international
system, and recent comments by Biden that the United States would defend Taiwan
in certain cases also inflamed tensions.
Taiwan's
Mainland Affairs Council, responding to Xi's remarks, denounced China's
"pressure and intimidation", saying the island's people would not
give in to threats.
Biden raised
other issues that Beijing regards as domestic concerns, including its handling
of Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, where China's policies face frequent censure
by foreign rights groups.
Biden and Xi
have not had a face-to-face meeting since Biden became president and the last
time they spoke was by telephone in September. The US president smiled broadly
as the Chinese president appeared on a large screen in the White House
conference room.
The tone of the
meeting lifted investor sentiment, with global stocks hitting new peaks.
"At least they are talking," economist Wellian Wiranto of OCBC Bank in Singapore wrote during the talks. "That seems to be the main expectation by global markets when it comes to any concrete outcome – or a lack thereof."
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