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Biden and Xi speak for first time since November summit amid global tensions

<i>Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource</i><br/>President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week in Woodside
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week in Woodside

By MJ Lee and Donald Judd, CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, marking the first conversation between the leaders sinceĀ their historic in-person summit in NovemberĀ and the latest in ongoing efforts by US and Chinese officials to defuse tensions between the two superpowers.

The call comes amid heavy global turbulence ā€“ the ongoing wars inĀ GazaĀ andĀ Ukraine, as well asĀ North Koreaā€™s nuclear capabilities, were topics of discussion. Other issues that have strained the Washington-Beijing relationship also came up, includingĀ Taiwan,Ā Chinaā€™s recent provocations in the South China Sea and Beijingā€™s human rights abuses.

The two leaders also discussed a number of issues where US and Chinese officials see room for cooperation, including countering narcotics, the fast-developing world of artificial intelligence and climate change, according to a White House readout.

The White House described the one-hour-45-minute conversation as ā€œcandid and constructiveā€ on a range of issues on which the leaders agreed and disagreed. Biden stressed the need to maintain ā€œpeace and stabilityā€ across the Taiwan Strait and he also raised his concerns over Chinaā€™s support for Russiaā€™s defense industry, the White House added.

Chinaā€™s Foreign Ministry also said the two leaders had a ā€œcandid and in-depth exchange.ā€ In the call, Xi characterized US-China relations as ā€œbeginning to stabilize,ā€ but he warned that ā€œnegative factorsā€ had been growing and required ā€œattention from both sides,ā€ a ministry readout said.

Biden noted his worries about Chinaā€™s trade tactics that the White House said harm American workers and emphasized that the US will do what it must to prevent ā€œadvanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade and investment.ā€

ā€œThe two leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship through high-level diplomacy and working-level consultations in the weeks and months ahead,ā€ the readout stated, noting Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China.

Biden also expressed concerns about TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese parent company ByteDance. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Biden discussed House-passed legislation that would require TikTok to be spun off from ByteDance and emphasized that it was an American national security issue.

Xi, for his part, called for the two sides to value peace, prioritize stability and honor their commitments to each other ā€“ an apparent reference to Chinese officialsā€™ concerns about American tech and trade restrictions on China that they see as at odds with Washingtonā€™s assurances that it does not want to decouple the two nationsā€™ economies.

Beijingā€™s heightened attention on those restrictions, which include a range of controls targeting Chinaā€™s access to high-end, dual-use American technology, were reflected in Xiā€™s comments to Biden.

ā€œIf (the US) is adamant on containing Chinaā€™s hi-tech development and depriving China of its legitimate right to development, China is not going to sit back and watch,ā€ Xi said, according to Chinaā€™s readout.

On Taiwan, which is a key point of friction between the two countries, Xi called the issue the ā€œfirst red lineā€ in the relationship and urged the US to act in accordance ā€œwith President Bidenā€™s commitment of not supporting ā€˜Taiwan independence,ā€™ā€ the readout said.

Chinaā€™s ruling Communist Party claims the self-ruling democracy as its own territory and has vowed to ā€œreuniteā€ with it, by force if necessary.

A ā€˜check inā€™

The Biden-Xi chat represents a follow-through on a simple commitment that Biden made publicly after meeting with Xi for multiple hours in Woodside, California, last fall: That, moving forward, the two leaders would pick up the phone and call each other more often, with an eye towards preventing potentially dangerous misunderstandings between two of the most powerful countries in the world.

A senior administration official previewing the call was quick to note that despite the great lengths to which both countries have gone to over the last year to de-escalate historic high tensions in US-China relations, a phrase Biden had uttered after his summit with Xi still remains operable: ā€œTrust but verify.ā€

ā€œI donā€™t think we ever really take the Chinese at their word when they say they will or will not do something. It is about verifying, as the president says,ā€ the official told CNN when asked aboutĀ Xiā€™s pledge that Beijing will not interfere in theĀ USā€™Ā 2024 election. ā€œVerifying the results we see, the actions we see, and then continuing to underscore and press on what our concerns are.ā€

That fraught dynamic was underscored during Novemberā€™s summit when Biden ā€“ after underscoring the constructive nature of his meeting with Xi ā€“ told a CNN reporter that he would still refer to the Chinese leader as a dictator. The label, which Biden had previously used to describe Xi, quickly drew the ire of the Chinese government, and marked an awkward end to what was a momentous meeting between the two leaders.

The Biden administration plans to continue stressing to Beijing theĀ USā€™ grave concerns about Chinese efforts to hack US critical infrastructure, the official said.

CNN reported exclusively in January that Xi had told Biden when they met in November that China would not interfere in the US presidential election, and that that assurance had also been reiterated byĀ theĀ Chinese foreign minister to Bidenā€™s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The conversation Tuesday was meant to serve as a ā€œcheck inā€ on the progress made over the last year in those areas, the official said.

Biden also raised concerns in the call about Chinaā€™s ā€œsupport for Russiaā€™s defense industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security.ā€ His comments came on the heels of Xiā€™s recent pledge to ā€œstrengthen strategic coordinationā€ between China and RussiaĀ on a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.

While China has shied away fromĀ publicly providing lethal aid to RussiaĀ to assist in its invasion of Ukraine, US officials have raised concerns that Chinaā€™s economic support for Russia has allowed the country to rebuild its defense industrial base. The Chinese readout noted that the two leaders ā€œexchanged views on the Ukraine crisis.ā€

ā€œChina, of course, is a sovereign country, it will make its own decisions about its relationships, but quite concerned about the direction of travel on this one, and Iā€™m certain it will come up,ā€ the senior US administration official said Monday ahead of the call.

Biden and Xi last spoke on the phone in July 2022.

ā€œWe would hope there would be a chance for another in-person meetingā€ in the near future, the senior administration official said.

Yellen set to visit China this week

In a significant mark of the Biden administrationā€™s ongoing engagement with Beijing,Ā Treasury Secretary Janet YellenĀ is scheduled to visit China later this week, where sheā€™ll meet with her Chinese counterparts in her second visit to the country asĀ Treasury secretary.

Yellen is scheduled to make two stops, traveling to Guangzhou and Beijing, for meetings with economists, students and membersĀ ofĀ the business community. A Treasury official told reporters Monday she planned to have frank discussions on what the administration considers ā€œunfairā€ trade practices from China.

The Treasury secretary has vocally warned ofĀ the threat Chinaā€™s overcapacityĀ poses to the global economy, but has also cautioned thatĀ decoupling with the manufacturing juggernaut would be ā€œdisastrousā€Ā for the US.

China in recent days has signaled it will will push back against American concerns about industrial overcapacity, with a commentary in state media Xinhua on Tuesday calling those a ā€œpretext for certain Western countries to poison the environment for Chinaā€™s domestic development and international cooperation.ā€

In addition to Yellen, otherĀ USĀ officials have spoken with their Chinese counterparts in 2024, demonstrating just how critical the administration sees its bilateral relationship with the country.

In January, Sullivan met with the Chinese foreign minister in Bangkok, and Blinken met with the Chinese official in Munich in February. Blinken is also set to travel to China himself ā€œin the coming weeks,ā€ the senior administration official told reporters Monday, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to participate in a call with Chinaā€™s minister of defense ā€œsoon.ā€

This story has been updated with additional developments on Tuesday.

CNNā€™s Simone McCarthy, Sam Fossum and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

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