Biden holds call with China’s Xi ahead of Japan, Philippines meetings

President Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday morning, in a first follow-up call since the two leaders met in California last year.

The timing of the call comes ahead of critical meetings between Washington and allies from the Indo-Pacific, which China views as provocative. This includes a state visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 10; and a first-of-its kind trilateral meeting between Japan, the Philippines and the U.S. on April 11. 

“U.S. alliances and partnerships are not about China … but oftentimes, Chinese actions motivates much of what we talk about,” a senior administration official told reporters Monday night, previewing the president’s call. “But that is something, certainly well within China’s control, what it says and does, and the impact it has on U.S. partners and allies throughout the region.” 

Efforts at increased communication between Washington and Beijing are aimed at stabilizing ties between the countries that are fraught with pitfalls for conflict. 

The senior administration official said the call was scheduled as a “check in” between the two leaders following their bilateral summit in Woodside, Calif., on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.

“Both President Biden and President Xi agreed to try to pick up the phone a bit more, use that tool as a means of responsibly managing the relationship, of being in closer touch at the leader level — which is so very critical in the Chinese system — on a more regular basis,” they said.

The last time the leaders spoke by phone was in July 2022. 

The call comes following Biden and Xi’s commitment to take concrete actions to improve the relationship between the U.S. and China that has deteriorated over a host of issues, but include China’s anger at Washington’s support for Taiwan; China’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine; a Chinese spy balloon infiltration of the U.S.; and provocative confrontations between Chinese ships and those from the U.S. and other partners in contested waters in East Asia and the Pacific.

Biden is expected to raise concern on the call with Xi over a confrontation late last month between Chinese coast guard ships using water cannons against Philippine ships in the South China Sea. 

“The President may also express concern over destabilizing PRC [People’s Republic of China] actions in the South China Sea, including the dangerous, recent action of the PRC coast guard against routine Philippine maritime operations near Second Thomas Shoal,” the official said.

They added that Biden is also expected to reiterate support for the “One China” policy, which holds back U.S. recognition of Taiwan as independent, but does not acknowledge China’s claims to the democratically-governed island. 

Biden will reiterate “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, especially given the upcoming major presidential inauguration in Taiwan,” the official told reporters. 

Also, among the commitments from the APEC summit included the request for China to rein in the export of precursor chemicals used to make narcotics illegally entering the U.S. 

“We have seen the PRC implement some initial measures to restrict and disrupts the flow of certain precursor chemicals used to produce illicit synthetic drugs,” the official said. 

“But of course, the drug trade is continually evolving and changing and in order to ensure that we are disrupting this trade flow, we, the U.S. and China need to maintain close consultations with law enforcement at the technical level and otherwise, to really drive that substantive law enforcement action,” they added.

The U.S. is also pushing for more predictable military-to-military communications between Washington and Beijing to avoid the potential for conflict in disputed waters, and the White House endorsed progress on this front. 

“President Biden has made clear that this mil-mil communication is critical at all times, but especially during times of heightened tensions,” the official said.

The administration is also working on holding a U.S.-China dialogue on “managing the risk and safety challenges posed by advanced forms of artificial intelligence” and expressed support for China’s support at the United Nations on a resolution calling for the responsible use of artificial intelligence. 

The call is not expected to yield any new initiatives, though the official sought to demonstrate that such communication was beneficial in laying the groundwork for another, potential in-person meeting, although that would be difficult to coordinate ahead of the November presidential election.

“I would anticipate, depending on what happens in the coming year, we would hope there would be a chance for another in person meeting,” the official continued. “But don’t have anything even to speculate on when that might be, but there’s certainly value in that in-person meeting and the calls in the interim.”