President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed global priorities and challenges Nov 14.
Biden and Xi “spoke candidly about their respective priorities and intentions across a range of issues,” which included competition between the two nations, climate change, food security, human rights concerns, Taiwan and the one China policy and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to a White House briefing room release. The two leaders seemed to agree that the U.S. and China should communicate openly and that “competition should not veer into conflict.”
“Today, I met with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China,” Biden said in a Nov. 14 post on Twitter. “We discussed our responsibility to prevent the competition between our countries from veering into conflict and finding ways to work together on shared challenges that affect the international community.”
Biden reiterated the U.S. acknowledges the one China policy and does not seek to change the “status quo” between China and Taiwan, according to the release. Biden did express concern over China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region and jeopardize global prosperity.”
On the subject of Russia’s war in Ukraine, both leaders agreed that the use of nuclear weapons should absolutely be avoided, the release reported.
"President Biden congratulated President Xi on his re-election as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee," according to a summary of the meeting posted by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The United States respects China’s system, and does not seek to change it.”
The summary said the U.S. does not seek a new Cold War, and has no intention to seek “de-coupling” from China, to halt China’s economic development, or to contain China.
