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Biden-Xi call likely to cover Taiwan tensions: White House

ROC Central News Agency

07/27/2022 12:43 PM

Washington, July 26 (CNA) A call between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) slated to take place later this week is likely to cover tensions over Taiwan, the White House said Tuesday.

"Everything from the tensions over Taiwan, to the war in Ukraine, as well as how we better manage competition between our two nations, certainly in the economic sphere," said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby in a press briefing.

Kirby's comments come after China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, expressed strong opposition to a rumored trip to Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

On July 19, Zhao Lijian (趙立堅), a spokesperson for the China's foreign ministry, called on Washington to "stop creating tensions over the Taiwan Strait."

Kirby however, called the U.S.-China relationship "one of the most consequential bilateral relationships in the world," adding that there also possibilities for both sides to cooperate on issues such as global warming.

Kirby said the White House has seen some bellicosity from Beijing, but called such rhetoric "unnecessary," stressing that there has not been a formal announcement of Pelosi's trip.

Kirby also declined to speculate if Pelosi's possible trip would be on the agenda of the Biden-Xi talk, only saying that Biden's national security team had briefed Pelosi about security concerns and related arrangements.

Pelosi's planned trip to Taiwan was first reported on July 18 by the Financial Times, which cited six people familiar with the matter as saying that the 82-year-old Democratic lawmaker was planning to lead a delegation to Taiwan in August.

Biden, however, on July 20 reacted to the reported trip by saying the military thought that "it's not a good idea right now" though he also added "but I don't know what the status of it (the trip) is."

(By Chiang Chin-yeh and Lee Hsin-Yin)

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