In the wake of Beijing’s concerns mounting over a possible visit to the Chinese-claimed island by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday reportedly warned United States President Joe Biden against “playing with fire” over Taiwan., according to reports.
According to Reuters report citing Chinese state media, Xi told Biden in their fifth call as leaders that the United States should abide by the “one-China principle” and stressed that China firmly opposed Taiwanese independence and interference of external forces.
The report further stated that Beijing has issued escalating warnings about repercussions should Pelosi visit Taiwan, which says it is facing increasing Chinese military and economic threats, adding that her visit would be a dramatic show of US support for the island. “Those who play with fire will only get burnt,” Chinese state media quote Xi Jinping as telling Joe Biden. “(We) hope the U.S. side can see this clearly.”
This comes at a time when China has given few clues to specific responses it might make if Nancy Pelosi, a long time critic of Beijing, particularly on human rights issues, makes the trip. Notably, the presidents’ call lasted over two hours. U.S. officials had said it would have a broad agenda, including discussion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which China has yet to condemn, the report said.
A per the Reuters report, US officials said they saw the exchange as another chance to manage competition between the world’s two largest economies, whose ties have been increasingly clouded by tensions over democratically governed Taiwan, which Xi has vowed to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters ahead of the call, “this is about keeping the lines of communication open with the president of China, one of the most consequential bilateral relationships that we have, not just in that region, but around the world, because it touches so much.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan has reportedly complained of stepped-up Chinese military maneuvers over the past two years to try and force it to accept Beijing’s sovereignty. Just ahead of Thursday’s call, Taiwan’s military said it fired flares to warn away a drone that “glanced by” a strategically located and heavily fortified island close to the Chinese coast that was possibly probing its defenses, the Reuters report said
(With inputs from Reuters)
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