United States-China: first phone conversation in seven months between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

File image: Chinese Xi Jinping and American Joe Biden when they were both vice-presidents of their country on February 17, 2012 in Los Angeles.

AFP - FREDERIC J. BROWN

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, September 9, for the first time in seven months.

It was to try to ensure that the "competition" between the two countries does not turn into "conflict", said the White House.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Joe Biden over the phone that Washington's hostility to Beijing has caused "

serious difficulties

 " for bilateral relations, according to state media. This is the first telephone interview between the two leaders since February. Mr. Biden had just recently succeeded Donald Trump, and had spent two hours on the phone with Mr. Xi. Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained since the mandate of the former US president, who launched a trade war against China and criticized him for his management of the Covid-19 pandemic. " 

Our two countries and the whole world would suffer in the event of a Sino-American confrontation 

Xi Jinping told the tenant of the White House, according to Chinese public television CCTV.

“ 

The future and the fate of the world depend on the ability of China and the United States to manage their relations well.

This is the question of the century, which our two countries will have to answer,

 ”Xi said.

Breaking the diplomatic deadlock

While defending multilateralism and calling for an end to the former Republican President's "America First" policy, the Biden administration has upheld tariffs and is keeping a hard line on others. points of contention in the relationship with Beijing. But according to the White House, the diplomatic stalemate is untenable and potentially dangerous. During the interview, Mr. Biden conveyed the message that the United States wants to ensure "

 that the momentum remains competitive and that we do not have a situation in the future where we go into an unforeseen conflict 

" , a senior US administration official told reporters.

The purpose of this telephone conversation on Thursday was to put in place safeguards so that the relationship is " 

managed responsibly

 ", so

that

we really achieve a stable situation between the

United States and China

 " , he added.

The interview aimed to address “ 

broad and strategic 

” issues, without concrete decisions being expected or a summit between the leaders being set, added the American official.

According to a White House report, the two leaders " 

discussed areas in which our interests converge, and areas in which our interests, values ​​and perspectives diverge

 ."

Tense exchanges in March

Previous attempts to talk to China at a lower level have not gone very well, most notably during a tense exchange in March between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior Chinese officials he had met in Anchorage. , Alaska.

The list of disagreements between Washington and Beijing is long and growing.

In addition to trade, there are also the Taiwan question and Beijing's claims on the South China Sea.

(

with AFP

)

To read also: End of a visit to the taste of coal for John Kerry in China

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