by Steve Holland, Michael Martina and Ryan Woo
WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – Joe Biden and Xi Jinping held a phone call on Thursday in which the Chinese president warned his U.S. counterpart not to “play with fire” with Taiwan amid growing concerns about the democratic island that Beijing considers a renegade province.
In what was the fifth phone call between the two leaders since Joe Biden took over the White House in January 2021, Xi Jinping said the United States must respect the “one China principle”.
He stressed that Beijing firmly opposes Taiwan independence and interference by external powers, Chinese state media reported.
“Those who play with fire can only get burned,” Xi Jinping told Joe Biden, according to comments reported by the official Chinese press. Beijing “hopes the American camp can see this clearly,” the Chinese leader added.
The White House reported that Joe Biden told Xi Jinping that US policy regarding Taiwan has not changed and that the United States firmly opposes any effort that undermines peace and stability near the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from mainland China.
The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including climate change and health security, the US presidency said in its report of the meeting, which lasted more than two hours. precise.
A senior US representative has told reporters that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have discussed the possibility of holding a face-to-face summit and have asked their teams to look into the matter.
China has multiplied warnings, increasingly firm, about the possible visit to Taiwan of the speaker of the American House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, executive of the Democratic party from which Joe Biden comes.
Such a visit would not be unprecedented, but it would highlight Washington’s support for Taipei, which denounces growing military and economic threats from Beijing.
US officials had indicated ahead of the meeting that a range of topics would be discussed, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which China has not condemned. This exchange should, according to them, especially allow to evoke once again the economic rivalry between the two greatest world powers.
“It’s about keeping the lines of communication open with the president of China, one of the most important bilateral relationships, not just for this region, but across the world, because it touches on so many” topics, said ahead of the interview with the spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
During his previous interview with Xi Jinping, last March, Joe Biden had warned Beijing of “consequences” in the event of material support given to Moscow for the war in Ukraine. The elements available to the American administration indicate that this “red line” has not been crossed.
The last trip by a Speaker of the US House of Representatives to Taiwan was in 1997.
China does not rule out the use of force to bring the island back into its fold.
(Reporting Michael Martina, Trevor Hunnicutt, David Brunnstrom and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington, with Martin Quin Pollard in Beijing; French version Charlotte Lavin and Jean Terzian, editing by Sophie Louet and Bertrand Boucey)