Concerning Taiwan, Xi cautions Biden against "playing with fire"

Amid simmering economic and geopolitical tensions, Chinese President Xi Jinping cautioned his US counterpart, Joe Biden, about "playing with fire" over Taiwan during their fifth discussion as leaders.

According to Chinese state media, Xi reiterated to Biden that the United States should uphold the "one-China concept" and that China vehemently opposes Taiwanese independence as well as "interference" by outside forces.

One will just burn themselves playing with fire. Xi was quoted as telling Biden. "[We] hope the US side can see this clearly."

Biden informed Xi that US policy had not changed and that Washington "strongly opposes unilateral moves to disrupt the status quo or threaten peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the body of water dividing the island from mainland China, according to a statement from the White House.

After the call, Taiwan's foreign ministry expressed gratitude to Biden for his support and stated that it would continue to strengthen its security alliance with the United States.

The US president is trying to find new methods to cooperate with China amid growing global competition and tensions between the two countries over several issues, including human rights, global health, and economic policy, during the more than two-hour-long call between Biden and Xi.

Beijing has most recently issued increasing warnings on a potential trip to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stating that it would regard such a trip as a provocation. Although Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and hasn't ruled out using force to further its objectives, Washington provides the self-governing island with informal defensive support.

Zhao Lijian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, earlier this week warned that "forceful responses" would be given if the US insisted on following its own course and challenged China's fundamental principles. "The US shall be responsible for any resulting consequences."

Since Republican Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997 while House speaker, Pelosi would be the highest-ranking US elected figure to do so. According to US military sources, Pelosi visiting the island at this time is "not a good idea," Biden told reporters last week.

According to Kimberly Halkett of Al Jazeera, from the White House, Biden spoke with Xi "to ease the diplomatic tensions that have been building for some time but have gotten worse as a result of this probable visit" by Pelosi.

According to US sources, Biden also discussed several other delicate subjects, including China's "genocide and forced labour policies" and its more aggressive military posture in the Asia Pacific.

Later that day, a senior Biden administration official who spoke to reporters on the record said that Biden and Xi had discussed the possibility of meeting in person during their phone discussion. The last time the two presidents spoke was in March, just as Russia was starting its invasion of Ukraine.

As "one of the most critical bilateral relationships in the world today," US national security spokesperson John Kirby stated last week that it was crucial for Biden and Xi to communicate frequently.

At a White House press conference on Wednesday, Kirby said that the president wanted to ensure that the channels of communication with President Xi remained open because they needed to. There are some problems where we can work together with China, and there are others where there will undoubtedly be conflict and strain.

In a call with Biden, Xi stressed that "to approach and define China-US relations in terms of strategic competition and view China as the primary rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be misperceiving China-US relations and misreading China's development," the Chinese foreign affairs ministry added on Thursday.

There was little sign of any "serious" dialogue, according to Michael Swaine, the head of the Quincy Institute's East Asia programme, despite the two-hour debate.

From Maryland in the United States, he told Al Jazeera that "neither is truly addressing the interests and concerns of the other." "In some respects, it's actually a discussion for the deaf."

Biden has worked to lessen the US's reliance on Chinese manufacturing since assuming office last year. This week, he voiced support for legislation that was passed by Congress encouraging semiconductor businesses to construct more advanced facilities in the US.

In an effort to alleviate the impact of skyrocketing inflation on American households, Biden—who has maintained in place tariffs on numerous Chinese-made items created under his predecessor Donald Trump to preserve leverage over Beijing—is also debating whether to ease at least some of them.

The person from the US administration claimed that during the call on Thursday, the topic of tariffs was not raised.

Some experts think Xi is also interested in preventing an escalation because he plans to run for an unprecedented third term at the Communist Party meeting later this year.

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While Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington disagreed that the two sides were on the verge of a crisis, he noted that "the risk of a major crisis is well above zero" and emphasised the importance of a call between Biden and Xi in order to prevent an unwelcome confrontation.

Kennedy told the Reuters news agency, "I'm sure no one wants a conflict right now. Beijing, Taipei, and Washington are full of experts schooled in how to send and interpret signals communicating threats and comfort.