Xi Jinping warns Joe Biden, says US-China confrontation disastrous for both

Confrontation between China and the US will be disastrous for both countries and the world, President Xi Jinping has cautioned President Joe Biden in their first phone call since the latter took over the American presidency last month.

Biden raised the issues of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the Hong Kong crackdown and Beijing’s increasing assertiveness on Taiwan during the call, held on the eve of the Lunar New Year, the most important festival in China.

Biden tweeted after the phone call: “I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people.”

In a statement, the White House said the president had “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan”.

A statement from China carried by the official news agency, Xinhua, quoted Xi as telling Biden that those issues were China’s internal affairs.

“The Taiwan question and issues relating to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, etc are China’s internal affairs and concern China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the US side should respect China’s core interests and act prudently,” Xi told his American counterpart.

Xi emphasised that while the two sides may differ on some issues, it is crucial to show mutual respect, treat each other as equals, and properly manage and handle the differences in a constructive fashion.

China and the US gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation; cooperation is the only right choice for both sides, he said. “When China and the US work together, they can accomplish a great deal for the good of both countries and the world at large; confrontation between the two countries, however, will definitely be disastrous for both countries and the world,” the Chinese president added.

The two sides, he added, should act to conform to the trend of the world, jointly safeguard peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and make historic contributions to promoting world peace and development.

Xi and Biden exchanged views on countering the Covid-19 pandemic as well as on the shared challenges of global health security, climate change and the prevention of weapons proliferation.

Thursday’s phone call comes in the backdrop of war of words that has broken out between Beijing and Washington over the passage of the US warships through the Taiwan Strait and their presence in the South China Sea - for the first time during the Biden presidency.

Four years of Donald Trump’s presidency saw increased tensions between the world powers over a range of issues including disputes in the SCS region and Taiwan.

Since Biden took over, the US Navy has dispatched aircraft carrier strike groups in the South China Sea and redeployed the USS Nimitz Carrier strike group from the Central Command area of responsibility to the US Indo-Pacific region.