NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that the U.S. will face security risks in Asia if Beijing fails to curb North Korea’s weapons program. He said he would strengthen his position.
At a press conference after his first face-to-face meeting with Xi, Biden said he had candidly discussed a wide range of issues contributing to the worst US-China relationship in decades.
In a statement after the meeting, Xi called Taiwan the “first red line” that should not be crossed in US-China relations, according to Chinese state media.
Biden said he was trying to ease tensions over the autonomous islands by assuring Xi that U.S. policy toward Taiwan has not changed. “I don’t believe there is an imminent attempt by China to invade Taiwan,” he told reporters.
He said that if Beijing is unable to curb North Korea, the United States will further protect its allies in the region.
Both sides have set up mechanisms for more frequent communication and Secretary of State Anthony Brinken will visit China to follow up on talks, he said.
“I think we understand each other,” Biden said.
The two leaders smiled and shook hands warmly ahead of their meeting in front of the flags of a hotel in Bali, Indonesia, on the eve of the G20 summit as tensions rise over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” Mr Biden told Mr Xi, arm in arm, before the three-hour-plus meeting.
But according to the White House, Mr. Biden brought up a number of difficult topics during the meeting. These include China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan,” Beijing’s “non-market economic practices,” and US challenges to practices in the “Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.” , Tibet, Hong Kong, and human rights in the broader senseā.
Biden said ahead of time that he was committed to maintaining communication at the personal and governmental levels.
“In our view, as leaders of both countries, we will show that China and the United States can manage differences, prevent competition from turning into conflict, and find ways to cooperate on pressing global issues. We share responsibility, our mutual cooperation,” Biden said in front of reporters.
Members of the delegation were wearing masks, but neither leader was wearing one to prevent COVID.
Tensions over Taiwan talks President Xi Jinping said before the talks that relations between the two countries did not meet the expectations of the world.
“Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for China and China’s internal affairs,” Xi said, according to state media.
“Anyone who tries to separate Taiwan from China violates the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.”
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own, has long said it would bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. It strongly disagrees with the allegations, saying only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide its future.
There was early drama in Bali as the island reprimanded Western media over reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had been taken to a local hospital with a heart condition.
“This is a kind of game that is not new in politics,” Lavrov said. ‘Western journalists need to be more honest’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted a video of Lavrov sitting outdoors reading documents in shorts and a T-shirt, calling it a “fake height.”
But Bali’s governor Yi Wayan Koster told Reuters that Lavrov was in good health after a brief visit to a local hospital for a “checkup”. Indonesian officials declined to comment.
Lavrov represented Putin at the first G20 summit since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
tight bond
US-China calls have been disrupted in recent years by heightened tensions over issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, trade practices and US restrictions on Chinese technology.
But US officials said there had been quiet efforts in both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to mend ties.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters in Bali that the aim of the talks was to stabilize relations between the two countries and create a “more secure atmosphere” for US businesses.
Biden said he has been openly discussing national security concerns with China about restrictions on U.S. classified technology and expressed concerns about the credibility of China’s commodity supply chains.
Biden and Xi have had five phone or video calls since Biden took office in January 2021, but the last time they met in person was during the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president. It was the times.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the organizer of the G20 summit, said he hoped Tuesday’s meeting “will result in concrete partnerships that will help the world’s economic recovery.”
But one of the G20’s main topics is Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin have grown close in recent years, bound by a shared mistrust of the West, reaffirming their partnership days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against China.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed the “irresponsibility” of nuclear threats at a summit in Cambodia, suggesting China is offended by Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, a senior Biden administration official said. rice field.
The West has accused Russia of irresponsible rhetoric about its possible use of nuclear weapons since its invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia has accused the West of “provocative” nuclear rhetoric.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will address the G20 on Tuesday via videolink.
Nusa Dua by Nandita Bose, Fransiska Nangoy, Leika Kihara, David Lawder, Simon Lewis, and Beijing by Yew Lun Tian and Ryan Woo. Written by Kay Johnson, Raju Gopalakrishnan.Edited by Robert Barthel, Tom Hoag, Allison Williams, Angus Maxwan
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