Taiwan ‘most dangerous’ issue in China-US relations, Xi tells Biden in meeting
- The Chinese leader indicated Beijing is not preparing for an invasion of the island, a US official said after the meeting in California
- The two presidents held their first face-to-face encounter in a year on Wednesday, holding candid talks on range of issues
Xi was trying to indicate that China is not preparing for a massive attack on Taiwan, but that does not change the US approach, the official said.
“President Xi … underscored that this was the biggest, most potentially dangerous issue in US-China relations, laid out clearly that … their preference was for peaceful reunification but then moved immediately to conditions that the potential use of force could be utilised.”
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi reiterated Beijing’s position to Biden, saying “China will eventually be reunified and inevitably be reunified”. He also described Taiwan as the most important and sensitive issue in the relationship.
Xi said he regarded Biden’s remarks on Taiwan during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in November 2022 as positive. At that time, Biden said that the US did not support Taiwanese independence, did not seek to change China’s political system and had a consistent Taiwan policy.
Taiwan is a core issue dividing Washington and Beijing and a focus of remarks by Chinese diplomats at meetings with their US counterparts.
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Washington does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but is bound by American law to arm Taiwan for the island’s self-defence. The US also supports Taipei’s participation at international forums.
Pointing to US arms sales to the island and meetings between US and Taiwanese officials, Beijing has accused Washington of eroding their agreement on Taiwan, which was the basis for establishing formal ties in 1979.
Washington has denied the allegation, saying it has only acknowledged that Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China without agreeing with that position, in line with the one-China policy.
At his press conference on Wednesday, Biden said his discussion with Xi on Taiwan was brief. He repeated to Xi that he would not change the one-China policy, which he said previous US presidents had also upheld. “That’s about the extent to which we discussed it.”
The Taiwanese foreign ministry responded to Xi’s reported comments by saying the island would continue to strengthen its defence capability and make the best preparations for any potential attack from Beijing.
“We will never predict if China would attack Taiwan or when it would attack. The government’s policy is quite clear, that is we will continue to strengthen our defence capability and make the best preparation,” said foreign ministry spokesman Jeff Liu at a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
The Taiwanese presidential office also put out a statement, saying Biden’s comments about Taiwan in his meeting with Xi indicated that the international society strongly supports maintaining peace and stability in the region.
“The security of Taiwan is closely related to that of the Indo-Pacific region and the world. Beijing a member of the international society, Taiwan has the ability to work with others in upholding regional peace and stability,” it said.
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Xi Jinping, Joe Biden hold talks on sidelines of Apec summit to ease strained US-China ties
In their meeting in San Francisco, Xi and Biden also agreed to resume top-level military dialogue “on the basis of equality and respect”, restoring a long-stalled area of the bilateral relationship.
According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, communications will also resume between leaders of military theatres, as well as ministerial-level talks on defence policy coordination and dialogue on maritime safety.
After the meeting, Biden told reporters that the resumption of direct military-to-military contacts was “critically important”. Without it, there could be misunderstandings “and that’s how accidents happen”, he said.
“We’re back to … open, clear communications on a direct basis. Vital miscalculations on either side can cause real trouble with a country like China or any other major country.”
US-China tensions over Taiwan have complicated dialogue between the US military and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Beijing stopped talks between theatre commanders after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei in August of last year.
Beijing also retaliated by cancelling annual meetings to coordinate defence policy and ensure safe military operations in air and at sea.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin never had a formal meeting with Li Shangfu, who served as China’s defence minister from March until October, when Beijing removed him from the post without giving a reason.
Washington blamed Beijing for refusing its request to set up a meeting, but the Chinese government said the US first needed to lift sanctions it imposed against Li in 2018 for buying military equipment from a Russian arms exporter.
Li’s former position has remained empty since his removal in October. The Chinese defence minister, unlike counterparts in other countries, is largely a diplomatic role, while decision-making power over the PLA is reserved for Xi as the chairman of China’s top military command, the Central Military Commission.
The two main opposition parties, the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party, decided on Tuesday to run a joint ticket to fight Lai. Beijing has accused Lai, now the island’s vice-president, of “seeking help from the US to pursue independence”.
Responding to the Xi-Biden meeting, Lai said that if Xi really wanted the US government not to continue to arm Taiwan, he should first “examine himself, renounce the use of force against Taiwan, respect the free will of Taiwanese people, and allow them to choose their next president”.
Lai, who has been the front runner in the race since his nomination in April, has previously accused Beijing of doing all it can to try to interfere with the crucial poll.
Legislator Charles Chen I-hsin, from the main opposition Kuomintang party, said Xi and Biden had both appeared during their talks to have an understanding that cross-strait peace and stability was necessary to avoid a potential conflict in the region.
“The two sides wanted to cooperate … and tried not to amplify their differences on the Taiwan issue. So this explains why the White House later said Xi Jinping had no plan to invade Taiwan,” he said.
Chen said the easing of tensions with Beijing could also help the US. “After all, there are two wars in the world – the Russo-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict. The US definitely does not want the third one to happen in the Taiwan Strait.”
