white house —
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at length Thursday morning amid tensions over a proposed visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has warned would “be met with forceful measures.”
A senior administration official told reporters afterward that the two leaders also “discussed the value of meeting face to face and agreed to have their teams follow up to find a mutually agreeable time to do so.”
In its brief readout of the two-hour call, the White House said the U.S. has not changed its policy on Taiwan, saying, “The United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
This was the fifth call between the leaders since Biden took office in 2021.
Some analysts said the world’s two most powerful leaders were left in the same place they were before.
“Unfortunately, it did not substantially change things,” said Anita Kellogg, a postdoctoral fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University. “It did not reduce the tensions, which are at historic highs between the two countries. And I believe the positions essentially remain the same.”
Beijing sees U.S. lawmakers’ trips to Taiwan as contradicting Washington’s “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as the sole government of China. Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province.
The speaker’s potential visit is viewed as especially fraught, as she is third in succession to the presidency, after Vice President Kamala Harris.
"China is always in a state of high dudgeon,” Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center, told VOA via Zoom. “They seem always to be angry about the United States for something. And so, it can be very difficult to discern when they are actually a little bit angrier and might take action, as opposed to when they are crying wolf or just objecting as a matter of form.
“This one, I think, is different,” Daly added. “Speaker of the House is third in line to the presidency. She also has a long history as a human rights provocateur against China. … The Chinese tend to see her as a particular sort of thorn in their side. So, China has made clear that if she makes this trip, China will escalate in some way.”
Daly said Beijing may decide to shadow Pelosi’s plane, or perhaps send more overflights over Taiwan’s airspace.
“We don't really know,” he said. “But China has committed itself to doing something. And this is an escalation in U.S.-China tensions that neither side will benefit from.”
A spokesperson for Taiwan's official office in Washington declined to comment on Pelosi's potential trip but told VOA: "We thank President Biden for underscoring the importance of our shared interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
Chinese state media reported that Xi told Biden on Thursday the U.S. should abide by the "One China" principle and ensure that its actions are consistent with its words.
"Those who play with fire will only get burned," Xi reportedly told Biden during a phone call. "Hope the U.S. side can see this clearly."
The Biden administration said it has no power to dictate travel by members of Congress, but officials said they have explained that a visit by Pelosi could trigger a crisis across the Taiwan Strait.
When asked what the two leaders said about Pelosi’s proposed Taiwan trip, the official said, “No trip has been announced, and as we said previously, it’s her decision.”
The Foreign Ministry's Zhao criticized the proposed trip when it became public last week, saying it would "seriously undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Speaking in Chinese, he said, "If the U.S. side obstinately clings to this course, China will definitely take resolute and forceful measures to firmly defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Concerned by the vague threat, Pentagon officials told The Associated Press that if Pelosi continued with plans, the military would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region. Fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would likely be used to provide overlapping rings of protection for her flight to Taiwan and any time on the ground there.