WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke by phone Thursday on mounting tensions over Taiwan, a festering trade dispute and their bid to keep the superpower rivalry in check.
The White House said the phone call started at 8:33 am in Washington (1233 GMT). A statement would be issued after the call ended, a spokesman said.
While this was Biden’s fifth talk with Xi since becoming president a year and a half ago, it’s getting hard to mask deepening mistrust between the two countries.
Already stuck in a trade war, Beijing and Washington increasingly risk open conflict over Taiwan, with little sign of resolution on either front.
“Tensions over China’s aggressive, coercive behavior in the Indo-Pacific” will be high on the agenda, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
