Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping and then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at a banquet in Washington, Sept. 25, 2015.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping on Thursday morning (Feb. 11) Beijing Time, the day of Chinese New Year‘s Eve, for the first time since Biden took office.
According to the latest communication from the White House, Biden reiterated that the United States “has fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and its increasingly assertive actions (in the Indo-Pacific region), including toward Taiwan.
But at the same time, Biden said, “Pragmatic, results-oriented engagement (with China) will take place when it is in the interests of the American people and our allies.”
The Chinese side did not release the communication of the call between the two heads of state by press time.
As the two largest economies in the world, the U.S.-China bilateral relationship has been the most important focus on the global diplomatic stage; Biden has yet to speak with Xi by phone since taking office on Jan. 20. Former President Donald Trump (Trump) made his first call with Xi 20 days after his inauguration.
Biden first spoke by phone with the leaders of several close U.S. allies, such as Canada, Mexico, Britain, Germany, France, NATO, Japan, South Korea and Australia, before speaking with Xi on Wednesday after taking office.
A senior administration official said earlier that President Biden has made a series of contacts with Eurasian allies and partners since taking office, and at this point he believes he is in a strong position to articulate to Xi the core U.S. concerns about China’s (Communist Party of China) behavior and to discuss areas of cooperation with China when it is in the U.S. interest to do so.
White House Releases First U.S.-China Summit Communications
A full translation of the White House’s communication to the U.S. and Chinese leaders (click here for the original) reads
“President Biden spoke today with Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping. The President sent greetings and best wishes to the Chinese people on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.
“President Biden affirmed that his priorities are to protect the security, prosperity, health and way of Life of the American people and to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“President Biden emphasized his fundamental concern about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, its crackdown on Hong Kong (on democratic practices), its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and its increasingly assertive actions (in the Indo-Pacific region), including toward Taiwan.
“The two leaders also exchanged views on the response to the New Coronavirus (COVID-19, a Chinese Communist virus) outbreak, as well as on common challenges such as global health security, climate change, and preventing weapons proliferation.
“President Biden committed to pragmatic, results-oriented engagement when it is in the interests of the American people and allies.”
Blinken and Yang Jiechi’s First Call Last Week U.S.-China Statement All Different
The top diplomatic officials of China and the United States spoke for the first time on Saturday (Feb. 6), though none of the two statements from the same call actually had the same content.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Yang Jiechi, Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and both statements covered five topics: human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong; the military coup in Burma; security in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region; the international system order; and the development of U.S.-China relations. However, both sides were speaking on their own, with no consensus anywhere.
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