According to a U.S. official, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, will speak Thursday. Furthermore, this will be their first conversation in four months amid the latest tensions between Beijing and Washington over the Chinese claims on Taiwan. The scheduled dialogs between both leaders have been in the works for the last some weeks.
President Xi Jinping China and Joe Biden US spoke with each other on Thursday to discuss the tension between the two countries over China’s claims on Taiwan. The talks happen between the leaders of two countries after four months.#PresidentXi#China#BidenXiTalks#PresidentBidenpic.twitter.com/2xFwvhDlMN
However, the possible U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan added the latest tensions to the complicated relationship. China is threatening that it will take strict moves should the top congressional Democrat visit the self-ruled island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as part of its territory. Moreover, the United States official refused to be identified before the public announcement.
According to Biden last week, United States military officials do not think it is a good idea for Pelosi to visit Taiwan now. Pelosi was initially scheduled to travel to Taiwan in April but postponed the trip after she tested positive for Coronavirus. The U.S. president’s remarks came after the Financial Times reported that Pelosi was planning to visit Taiwan in August last week.
On the other hand, the House speaker declined to speak on whether Pelosi plans to visit Taiwan, quoting security protocol on her travel. However, she said the president’s remarks hindered military brass from being afraid the Chinese military might shoot down their plane. Pelosi would be the highest-ranking United States elected official to visit Taiwan since GOP representative Gingrich (then-House Speaker) visited the island in 1997.
One China Policy
Chinese officials are not crumbling words, posting a message that the Pelosi visit would be viewed as a change in United States policy and treated as an incitement. Wang Wenbin, the spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that if the United States insists on proceeding its way, Beijing will take strong moves to respond and counter it determinedly.
Presidents Biden and Xi will meet amid latest Taiwan Tensions Source: Web
As part of the “One China” policy, the United States recognizes Beijing as China’s government but allows defense ties and informal relations with Taipei. However, during the past few years, Beijing has escalated its military provocations against Taiwan, prompting concerns that it is trying to threaten the island into accepting Chinese demands to integrate with the communist mainland as soon as possible.
In addition, the dialogs between the Chinese President and the U.S. President could include:
Dialogs about the nuclear program of North Korea.
Differences between the U.S. and China over Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Efforts by the Biden government to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
The status of the United States government’s review of hard tariffs imposed on Beijing by the Trump government.
Taiwan has been repeatedly threatened with military action by Beijing since Biden took office 18 months ago, and hundreds of sorties have been flown over Taiwanese airspace. Self-governing island democracies are legally entitled to self-defense, which is why the United States takes threats against them very seriously. Moreover, the tariffs slapped under Republican President Donald Trump applied a twenty-five percent duty on billions of dollars of Chinese products.
