Of:
TT-AFP,
Nora Fernstedt
Published: Today 13.56
Updated: Less than 20 min ago
Joe Biden in a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2022. Photo: AP/TT
NEWS
US President Joe Biden has had his first telephone meeting with China's Xi Jinping since March.
The conversation lasted over two hours and Xi Jinping is said to have warned Biden not to "play with fire" when it comes to Taiwan.
At the same time, the presidents have agreed to meet face to face.
The talks are taking place at a time of strained relations between the two countries. The latest tension between the countries is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned trip to Taiwan, an island that is self-governing but which China views as its territory. Beijing has said it would consider such a trip a provocation.
- Those who play with fire will eventually burn themselves. I hope that the US side is fully aware of that, Xi Jinping is said to have told Biden, according to the state news agency New China.
The news agency adds that both presidents found the talks to be sincere and in-depth.
The two leaders last spoke to each other in March, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that it is important for Xi and Biden to hear regularly:
"The president wants to make sure that communication with President Xi continues to be open, because it is necessary," Kirby said at a press briefing at the White House.
- There are issues where we can cooperate with China and there are issues where there is, of course, friction and tension.
Kirby mentioned a number of areas of friction between the US and China that would be addressed during the talks, including "the tensions over Taiwan, China's aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region outside Taiwan, tensions in the economic relationship" and China's response to Russia's war in Ukraine .
Later Thursday evening, a US official announced that the presidents had agreed to a face-to-face summit, reports
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