Biden on the phone with Xi, "Respecting human rights". Beijing: "Internal Affairs"

2021-02-11T05:49:01.601Z

US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping, for the first time since he was in office. An introductory interview, reports CNN, which touched upon a series of issues against the backdrop of growing tensions between the two countries. Biden prioritized economic and military issues and mentioned potential areas for cooperation, including the issues of climate change and nuclear proliferation, while recalling China on a number of issues related to its use of technology, unfair trade. and human rights violations, a senior White House official reported. Biden allegedly highlighted with the Chinese leader the violations of human rights by the Chinese Muslim Uyghur minority and the hostile actions against Hong Kong. Matters relating to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang are "internal affairs concerning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China". This is what President Xi Jinping said in the first phone call he had with his American counterpart Joe Biden since his inauguration at the White House. Xi, in the report made by the Global Times, the nationalist tabloid of the People's Daily, added that the "United States should respect the fundamental interests of China and approach these issues with caution." Biden, the White House later reported in a statement, offered Xi his "greetings and best wishes" to the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year celebrations. The US president also "underlined his concerns over Beijing's coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights violations in Xinjiang and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including towards Taiwan. ".