officials had said it would have a broad agenda, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which China has yet to condemn. "The conversation between the two about Taiwan, it was direct and it was honest," the official said, while declining to offer more specific details about Biden's message to Xi. official told reporters Xi had used similar language about Taiwan before and said the two sides acknowledged differing views that have existed for 40 years. Xi has vowed to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control, by force if necessary.Ĭhina has given few clues to specific responses it might make if Pelosi makes the trip, which she has yet to confirm. official also emphasized the importance of macroeconomic coordination.īeijing has issued escalating warnings about repercussions should Pelosi - a Democrat like Biden - visit Taiwan. While highlighting Taiwan, Xi also stressed that the world's two largest economies needed to maintain communication on macroeconomic policies, global supply chains, and safeguarding global food and energy security, China's readout said. read more GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS, SECURITYīiden stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication on Taiwan and the two also discussed areas where there was the potential to expand cooperation, including climate change, health security and counter-narcotics, the official said. official said Biden and Xi had discussed the possibility of holding a first face-to-face meeting as leaders and directed their teams to look into this. "One hopes they've done enough to avoid a collision in the near term, but it's clear there needs to be much more frequent and in-depth communication," he said.Ī senior U.S. Scott Kennedy, a China analyst at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said leader-level contacts were essential to preventing this. ties with Beijing could spur a major crisis and even unintended clashes. support for the island, and some analysts worry such a move at a time of fraught U.S. It has been particularly anxious to lower the temperature on Taiwan.Ī visit by the House speaker would be a dramatic, though not unprecedented, show of U.S. The White House said the long-scheduled call was part of the administration's efforts to deepen lines of communication with China and "responsibly manage our differences."
policy on Taiwan had not changed and that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the White House said.įollowing the call, Taiwan thanked Biden for his support and said it would continue to deepen its security partnership with the United States, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.