Key Points
- Biden and his Chinese counterpart have held a fifth call as leaders, with topics including Taiwan and Ukraine.
- Mr Jinping has warned United States President Joe Biden against "playing with fire" over Taiwan in a phone call.
President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to schedule their first in-person summit during a sometimes-tense phone call on Thursday where Mr Xi warned the United States not to "play with fire" over Taiwan.
Although this was their fifth phone or video call since Mr Biden took office a year-and-a-half-ago, the summit would be their first in-person meeting as leaders. No detail was given on the timing or location.
Mr Biden and Mr Xi "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", a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Both sides described the call, which lasted two hours and 17 minutes, as a robust exchange on the many disputes between the world's two biggest economic powers.
China's state-run Xinhua agency said Mr Xi delivered harsh words on US policy towards Taiwan, a democratic island with close ties to the US but which China considers part of its territory.
"Those who play with fire will eventually get burned," Mr Xi was quoted as telling Mr Biden, repeating language he employed when they spoke last November. "I hope the US side fully understands that."
Tensions around Taiwan are steadily escalating amid fears that Mr Xi could ultimately order an invasion to impose Beijing's rule.
In the latest flashpoint, Chinese authorities are furious at unconfirmed plans by Mr Biden ally and speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to visit the island.
Although US officials frequently visit Taiwan, separated by a narrow strip of water from the Chinese mainland, Beijing considers a Pelosi trip as a major provocation. She's second in line to the US presidency and given her position may travel with military transport.
Washington will "bear the consequences" if the trip goes ahead, China warned on Wednesday.
During the call, Mr Xi was quoted as telling Mr Biden "the position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan issue is consistent".
"It is the firm will of the over 1.4 billion Chinese people to firmly safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
Concerns are mounting over a possible visit to the Taiwain by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Source: AAP, AP / J. Scott Applewhite
"On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the White House said in a statement.
No move on tariffs
Mr Biden prides himself on a close relationship with Mr Xi going back years, but it's getting hard to mask deepening mistrust between the two countries.
US officials said Mr Biden touched on a raft of sensitive issues, including China's "genocide and forced labour practices" and its increasingly aggressive military posture across Asia.
The White House described Mr Biden's outreach as part of "efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication" and to "responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align".
According to the White House, Mr Biden's chief hope is to establish "guardrails" for the two superpowers.
This is meant to ensure that while they sharply disagree on democracy and are increasingly rivals on the geopolitical stage, they can avoid open conflict.
Where to place the guardrails, however, is challenging amid so many unresolved disputes, including a simmering trade war begun under Donald Trump's presidency.
One big question still completely unresolved is the trade war started under Donald Trump, with 25 per cent import duties on billions of dollars of Chinese products.
Despite speculation that Mr Biden could soon ease some of those tariffs to try and lower roaring inflation in the US economy, there was no movement on the issue during his talk with Mr Xi.
"On the question of tariffs, President Biden explained to President Xi... core concerns with China's unfair practices which harm American workers and harm American families, but he did not discuss any potential steps he might take," the US official told reporters.
"It would be wrong to believe that somehow a decision on any next steps was somehow waiting for this conversation."
