The United States and China – – has never been worse

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Thursday.

The phone call lasted exactly two hours and 17 minutes, according to the White House.

Chinese state television reported that they discussed “Sino-US relations and matters of mutual interest,” NTB writes.

According to Reuters, China must have given Biden a clear message that the United States should support the “one China policy”, which includes Taiwan as part of China and that China opposes Taiwan independence.

According to the news agency, Xi is said to have told Biden: “Everyone who plays with fire gets burned.”

– Poisonous and dangerous

Up front, Taiwan, the economy, trade, and war in Ukraine were expected to be on the agenda.

Relations between the United States and China are very tense, and there has been no actual meeting between the two presidents since Biden’s inauguration as president. They had a total of five conversations.

Relations between the two countries are still marked by the trade war started by former US President Donald Trump. Last week, China responded strongly to plans by prominent US politician Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan.

At the same time, many experts are now warning about the scope of the conflict.

– The relationship is very toxic now. The lack of confidence has never been worse. I don’t think people understand how dangerous this moment is, Bonnie Glaser, an expert on China at the German Marshall Fund in the United States, tells Reuters.

It will change the world for everyone

She believes that in their conversations, Biden and Xi should focus on calming the situation to avoid misunderstandings.

China threatens

Among the most exciting topics right now is Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan. If it makes the visit, the United States should expect a strong response, according to Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. However, China has come up with some tangible hints about what it can do if the visit takes place.

Although Taiwan is practically self-governing, the island is considered part of China by the Chinese authorities.

The Taiwanese army announced that it was ready for an invasion from China similar to the one carried out by Russia in Ukraine. And they announced this during an annual military maneuver on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, according to what was reported Washington Post.

In military exercises, they were said to have trained to fend off a potential amphibious attack along the waterfront linking Taipei Port and the Tamsui River, an important defense position for the capital, Taipei.

may escalate

– Just talk about time

Pelosi is the third most powerful person in the United States, after the president and vice president. No high-ranking US politician has visited Taiwan since 1997.

It has raised fears that the situation between China and Taiwan could become the worst crisis since the 1990s.

Taiwan was founded on the Chinese island of Formosa in 1949, after the communists’ victory in the civil war on the mainland. However, China believes that Taiwan is still part of China, and considers Taiwan a rebellious province. So China does not want Taiwan to have a more independent status.