Biden speaks with China’s Xi in their first call since U.S. election
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich / file photo
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, the White House said, his first direct contact with the leader of the world’s second-largest economy since winning election in November and taking office last month.
It was also the first call between Xi and a U.S. president since the Chinese leader spoke with former President Donald Trump in March last year. Since then, relations between the two countries have plunged to their worst level in decades.
Biden “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., February 10, 2021. Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS
Biden and Xi “exchanged views on countering the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shared challenges of global health security, climate change, and preventing weapons proliferation,” the statement said.
The U.S. president also told Xi the United States wanted to preserve “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it said.
