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According to a US official, Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will speak on Thursday, their first meeting in four months, amid renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing over China’s claims on Taiwan. The planned talks between the two leaders, the fifth in a series of regular check-ins, had been in the works for weeks. However, the likelihood of a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress and the second in line to the presidency, has strained the already strained relationship.
Beijing has warned Pelosi that if she visits the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, it will take “forceful actions.” Before the public statement, the US official declined to be identified. Bloomberg was the first to report the schedule. Pelosi has not confirmed her plans to visit Taiwan, but Biden told reporters last week that it was “not a smart idea” for the speaker to visit the island at this time. Biden’s remarks come after the Financial Times revealed last week that Pelosi planned to visit Taiwan in August, a trip she had previously planned to take in April but had to postpone due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The speaker has declined to comment on whether she intends to visit Taiwan, citing security protocol. However, she stated that Biden’s remark arose from military brass being “afraid our plane would be shot down, or something like that, by the Chinese.” She would be the highest-ranking US elected figure to visit Taiwan since Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich went in 1997.
“It’s critical for us to show our support for Taiwan,” Pelosi said. “When it comes to Taiwan, none of us have ever said we support independence. Taiwan has the last say.” Traveling to Taiwan, administration officials privately warned Pelosi, might aggravate an already precarious situation.
Chinese authorities aren’t mince words, saying Pelosi’s visit will be interpreted as a shift in US policy and considered as a provocation.
The Biden-Xi meetings could possibly cover North Korea’s nuclear programme, disagreements between Beijing and Washington over Russia’s war in Ukraine, efforts by the Biden administration to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal, and the status of the Trump administration’s review of severe tariffs placed on China.
“There are tensions in this relationship,” said John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, on Tuesday. “However, there are other topics where we believe cooperation is not only possible, but also necessary, such as climate change, which has a significant impact on us.” Long-simmering disagreements over Taiwan have resurfaced in the context of Russia’s invasion and ongoing efforts to annex large areas of eastern Ukraine.
As the United States scrambled to form a global coalition to slap heavy sanctions on Russia’s economy in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s ordered invasion of Ukraine, Biden warned allies, particularly those in the Indo-Pacific, that Beijing would be closely monitoring how democracies responded as it considers its next steps on Taiwan. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed alarm on Friday that Beijing may be gleaning some “concerning” insights from the five-month-old conflict in eastern Europe. However, he stated that the occasion has prompted careful consideration in Taipei.
“Not as many people wonder, ‘Is Taiwan learning from Ukraine?’ “And you can guarantee they are,” Sullivan stated at the Aspen Security Forum. “They’re learning about citizen mobilisation and territory defence.” They’re studying about information warfare and how to control the information space. And they’re learning lessons about how to prepare for a hypothetical scenario involving China, and they’re doing it quickly.” Taiwan was a hot topic during Biden and Xi’s previous phone discussion in March, only three weeks after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Since Biden entered office 18 months ago, China has regularly threatened to use force to enforce its claim to Taiwan and has sent hundreds of aircraft into Taiwanese airspace. The United States has a legal obligation to ensure that the self-governing island democracy can defend itself, and threats to it are taken seriously. The discussion also comes as Biden’s national security and economic advisers are nearing the finish of a study of US tariff policy and preparing to offer recommendations to the president. President Donald Trump levied tariffs of 25% on billions of dollars in Chinese goods. The fines were designed to reduce the United States’ trade deficit and compel China to adopt more equitable policies.
