WE NEED TO TALK

Biden Calls Chinese President Xi 11 Months After Trump Cut Off Contact

According to the White House, Biden told Xi that his administration won’t accept China’s human-rights abuses and expansionism.

President Joe Biden has had a call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping—the first time the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies have spoken since Donald Trump cut off contact with Xi in March last year. According to the White House, Biden told Xi that his administration won’t accept China’s human-rights abuses and expansionism. In a statement, the White House said Biden told Xi about his “fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair practices, its crackdown in Hong Kong, reported human-rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan.” In response, the Chinese foreign ministry said Xi told Biden that Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan are matters of “sovereignty and territorial integrity” that he hopes the United States will approach with caution. Xi said confrontation between China and the U.S. would be a “disaster,” and voiced his commitment to re-establishing communication between their offices.