Chinese President Xi Jinpin said he was happy to see his old friend Biden and his staff at their first virtual meeting where they could see each other.
“China and the United States must become better at communicating, cooperating and meeting challenges together,” Xi Jinping said.
Xi Jinipin added that he was happy to see his old friend Biden and his staff.
“Humanity lives in a global village, and countries must face challenges together,” Xi said.
Biden told Xi that the hope is to establish common guidelines to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations.
“Our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that competition between our countries does not turn into conflict, either intentionally or unintentionally, instead of uncomplicated and honest competition,” Biden said when the meeting began.
Xi has not been abroad since the corona pandemic, but he has spoken to the US president twice on the phone after Biden moved into the White House in January.
The previous conversation took place in September, where the tone between them was described as respectful, familiar and sincere.
Acidified under Trump
US relations with China were severely soured under President Donald Trump, who went to war and blamed the Chinese government for the coronation pandemic.
Although the tone is now better, Taiwan has flared up again as a contentious issue. China and Taiwan have been separated since 1949 when the Communists won the Chinese Civil War and took power on the mainland. The defeated nationalists sought refuge on the island of Taiwan.
In practice, Taiwan has full autonomy, but China insists that the island is part of China and threatens invasion if Taiwan formally declares independence.
The United States has recognized Taiwan as part of China since 1979, and Norway has done the same since 1971. Only a few smaller countries recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Military activity
In recent years, China has stepped up its military activities at sea and in the airspace around Taiwan, to protests from the United States, which despite the decision in 1979 is a close military ally with the regime in Taipei.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it clear how he views this when he recently met his US counterpart Antony Blinken.
“Any support for the Taiwanese independence forces undermines the peace in the Taiwan Strait and will ultimately only strike back like a boomerang,” he said.
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry nevertheless expressed hope that the conversation between Biden and Xi can contribute to a better relationship between the two countries.
“We hope that the United States will go in the same direction as China so that we can come to an agreement,” said Zhao Lijian.
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