Diplomacy China and the US insult and threaten each other at their first summit since Biden's arrival at the White House
Joe Biden's Heavy Hand Diplomacy with Xi Jinping
US China, the biggest challenge for Biden
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, spoke on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for the first time in seven months, with the intention of guaranteeing that the "competition" between both powers does not turn into a "conflict", reported the White House.
During the call, Biden conveyed the message that the United States wants "the dynamics to remain competitive and that there is
no situation
in the future where there is
involuntary conflict
," a senior government official told reporters.
In Beijing, the state channel CCTV reported that the conversation had been "sincere, deep and extensive, on China-US relations and issues of mutual concern."
This was the
first phone call between the two leaders since February
, when they spoke for two hours, shortly after Biden took over from Donald Trump.
Relations between the United States and China plummeted under Trump, who launched a trade war between the world's first and second largest economies.
The Biden administration, while urging multilateralism and an end to Trump's "America First" ideology, has maintained trade tariffs and remains tough on other contentious areas of the relationship with Beijing.
However, the White House noted that the diplomatic "impasse" is unsustainable and potentially dangerous, requiring the intervention of leaders in Thursday's convocation.
"We like the competition, but we don't want that competition to turn into a conflict," said the US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The question of the century
According to the Chinese state press, Xi Jinping told Biden that the confrontation between the world's major economies
"would spell disaster for both countries and the world
.
"
"The question of whether China and the United States can properly manage their relations ... is fundamental to the future and the destiny of the world," state broadcaster CCTV said, citing Xi.
"And this is the question of the century that both countries must answer," he added.
Xi stressed that the two sides should continue their dialogue on
climate change
,
epidemic
prevention
and
global
economic recovery
, "respecting our differences."
For his part, the White House official said that the objective of the call was that the relationship between the two can be "managed responsibly" and that the actions of the United States are not "misinterpreted" by China.
Lower-level attempts to engage with China have not gone well, especially when an angry exchange took place in March between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior Chinese officials meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.
"We have not been very satisfied with the behavior of our interlocutors," the senior official told reporters at the time.
Faced with this "impasse," "President Biden understood the importance of engaging directly with President Xi," the official said.
No specific questions
According to a White House recount after the call, Biden and Xi had a "discussion about the areas in which our interests converge, and the areas in which our interests, values and perspectives diverge."
Thursday's call focused on
"broad and strategic" issues
, with no specific decisions expected on pending issues or on a possible holding of a first Biden-Xi summit, according to the official.
The list of disagreements between Washington and Beijing is long and growing.
Beyond trade - the White House official laments "China's unfair and coercive trade practices" - tension is deepening over Chinese claims over Taiwan and numerous islands in the South China Sea.
Washington is also angered by what it says is China's refusal to cooperate with an international investigation into the
origins of the virus that causes COVID-19
, which first broke out in China before spreading across the world.
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