WASHINGTON (AP) – Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will talk Thursday, a U.S. official said, their first conversation in four months coming amid renewed tension between Washington and Beijing over China’s claims to Taiwan.
The planned talks between the two leaders — the fifth in a series of periodic records — have been underway for weeks. But the possibility of a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress and second in line to the presidency, has added new strain to the complicated relationship.
Beijing warns it will take “strong measures” if Pelosi visits the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
The US official declined to be identified before the public announcement. The schedule was first reported by Bloomberg.
Pelosi has not confirmed plans to visit Taiwan, but Biden told reporters last week that US military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at this time. Biden’s comments came after the Financial Times reported last week that Pelosi planned to visit Taiwan in August, a trip she had originally planned for April but postponed after she tested positive for the COVID-19.
The speaker has declined to comment on whether she plans to visit Taiwan, citing security protocol on her trip. But he said Biden’s comment stemmed from the fact that the military was “fearful that our plane was going to be shot down, or something, by the Chinese.” She would be the highest-ranking US elected official to visit Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he served as Speaker of the House.
“It’s important for us to show support for Taiwan,” Pelosi said. “None of us have ever said we are in favor of independence when it comes to Taiwan. That is up to Taiwan to decide.”
Administration officials have privately stressed to Pelosi that travel to Taiwan could further complicate a delicate status quo.
Chinese officials are not mincing words, sending a message that a visit by Pelosi would be seen as a change in US policy and treated as a provocation.
“If the United States insists on going its way, China will take strong measures to respond and resolutely counter it, and we will do what we say,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
The United States has a long-standing commitment to the “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as the government of China but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. China has stepped up its military provocations against Taiwan in recent years, and there are fears it is trying to intimidate the island into accepting Beijing’s demands to unify with the communist mainland.
The talks between Biden and Xi could also include a discussion of North Korea’s nuclear program, differences between Beijing and Washington over Russia’s war in Ukraine, efforts by the Biden administration to revive the nuclear deal with the ‘Iran and the status of the US administration’s review of the harsh tariffs imposed. on China by the Trump administration.
“There are issues of tension in this relationship,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. “But there are also issues where we believe cooperation is not only possible, but mandatory, such as climate change, which affects us greatly.”
Long-standing differences over Taiwan have come into sharp focus following Russia’s invasion and ongoing efforts to annex areas of eastern Ukraine.
As the United States scrambled to assemble a global coalition to hit the Russian economy with heavy sanctions following Vladimir Putin’s orderly invasion of Ukraine, Biden warned allies, particularly those in the Indo-Pacific, that Beijing would be watching closely how the democracies responded as it considers its next steps in Taiwan.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday he fears Beijing may draw some “worrying” conclusions from the five-month war in eastern Europe. But he suggested the timing has also led to some careful thinking in Taipei.
“Not so many people ask ‘Is Taiwan learning lessons from Ukraine?’ and you can bet they are,” Sullivan said during an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum. “They are learning lessons about citizen mobilization and territorial defense. They are learning lessons about information warfare and how to shape the information space. And they’re learning lessons about how to prepare for a potential contingency involving China and they’re working quickly on that.”
Taiwan was a central topic during Biden and Xi’s last call in March, about three weeks after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
China has repeatedly threatened to claim Taiwan by force and has sent hundreds of sorties into Taiwanese airspace since Biden took office 18 months ago. The United States is legally bound to ensure that the self-governing island democracy can defend itself and to treat threats against it with serious concern.
The conversation also comes as Biden’s economic and national security aides are nearing completion of a review of US tariff policy and preparing to make recommendations to the president.
The tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump applied a 25 percent duty on billions of dollars of Chinese goods. The sanctions were intended to reduce the US trade deficit and force China to adopt fairer practices.