WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden spoke with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday amid growing frustration on the American side that high-level engagement between the two leaders’ top advisers has been largely unfruitful in the early going of the Biden presidency.
Biden initiated the call with Xi, the second between the two leaders since Biden took office. It comes at a moment when there is no shortage of thorny issues between the two nations, including cyber-security breaches originating from China, Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and what the White House has labeled as “coercive and unfair” trade practices by the Chinese.
But Biden’s aim with the 90-minute call was less focused on any of those hot-button issues and instead centered on discussing the way ahead for the US-China relationship after it got off to a decidedly rocky start in his tenure.
The White House said in a statement the “two leaders had a broad, strategic discussion in which they discussed areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge.”
The White House is hopeful the two sides can work together on issues of mutual concern—including climate change and preventing a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula—despite growing differences.
Beijing, however, has pushed back against US pressure and increasingly has suggested it could remain broadly uncooperative until Biden dials down criticism on what it deems Chinese internal matters.
Xi in the call appeared to echo some of the complaints, telling Biden that US government policy toward China caused “serious difficulties” in relations, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
“This is not in the basic interests of the two peoples,” the Chinese leader said, according to Xinhua.
“Chinese-US confrontation will bring disaster to both countries and the world,” Xi added.Xi said the two sides should cooperate on climate change, epidemic prevention, economic recovery and other issues, Xinhua reported.
Ahead of the call, a senior administration official said the White House has been unsatisfied with early engagements with the Chinese.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said White House officials were hopeful that Xi hearing directly from Biden could prove beneficial.
The White House official said Biden made clear to Xi that he had no intention of moving away from his administration’s policy of pressing China on human rights, trade and other areas where it believes China is acting outside international norms.
High-level engagement in the early going has been most notable for each side blasting the other with recriminations.
Image courtesy of AP/Andrew Harnik