The call ran 90 minutes, and Joe Biden was the one who placed it. Late on Thursday, September 9, 2021, the US president phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping, UPI reported. It was their first conversation in seven months, and it came at what experts describe as one of the lowest points in years for relations between the two countries.
The two men had spoken once before, immediately after Biden took office early in 2021. Since then, silence. The White House said the pair covered cyber issues and the relationship overall. Administration officials called the exchange “respectful,” “familiar” and “candid,” according to CNN.
What Washington said
In its statement, the White House described “a broad, strategic discussion” of “areas where our interests converge and areas where our interests, values and perspectives diverge.” Both leaders agreed to take up both sets of issues “openly and straightforwardly.”
Biden, the statement said, “made clear” his intention to “responsibly manage” competition between Beijing and Washington. He also stressed the US interest in peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The two leaders, it added, talked about the responsibility of both nations to make sure competition does not veer into conflict.
What Beijing said
China’s account had a sharper edge. Xi blamed American policy on China for “serious difficulties” in the relationship, the state-run Global Times reported. A summary from Beijing’s foreign ministry quoted him saying the policies adopted by the United States toward China for some period of time “have pushed Chinese-U.S. relations into serious difficulties.”
He was not only critical. “When China and the [United States] work together, both countries and the world will benefit,” Xi said. “Both countries and the world will suffer if the two confront each other.” Getting the relationship right, he said, is not an option but “something we must do and must do well.”
How relations got here
The slide began under Donald Trump, who started a trade war with China that brought billions of dollars worth of tariffs. His administration also blamed China heavily for the COVID-19 outbreak and banned Chinese social media companies, including TikTok, along federal channels, citing national security. Under Biden the friction has continued, UPI noted, with disputes over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea and over cyberattacks.
