US, Chinese Presidents Seek to Ease Tensions in Video Meeting
2021-11-17
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1U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by video conference on Tuesday.
2The discussion was meant to be an effort to reduce tensions between the sides.
3The Zoom video conference lasted more than three hours.
4The leaders appeared to be at ease. Xi greeted Biden as his "old friend."
5Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exchange was constructive, or useful.
6"If China-U.S. relations cannot return to the past, they should face the future," Zhao said.
7However, both leaders held firm to their positions on issues that divide the two countries.
8Xi warned that the U.S. and Taiwan are playing with fire over the self-governing island that China considers part of its territory.
9The two leaders appeared to be aiming to ease tensions that had increased under former U.S. President Donald Trump.
10"It seems to me our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended," Biden told Xi at the start of the meeting.
11Xi returned Biden's friendly words in his opening remarks.
12He said, "China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation."
13Wang Huiyao is president of the Center for China and Globalization, a research group in Beijing.
14He said the friendly tone sets an example for officials in both countries.
15He said the idea was to try to identify common ground rather than to blame each other.
16Wang said, "I don't expect this one summit to bring us back to the good old days, but certainly it stops the downward spiral."
17The Biden administration set low expectations for the meeting.
18It made no major announcements related to the exchange.
19The U.S. did say the two leaders had an extended discussion on Taiwan.
20Tensions have heightened as China has sent a growing number of fighter jets toward the island.
21The U.S. and its allies have sailed warships though the Taiwan Strait.
22The Chinese statement on the meeting said Xi blamed Taiwan for seeking U.S. support to gain independence and some on the American side for using Taiwan to contain China.
23"Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire.
24Whoever plays with fire will get burnt," the statement said.
25Chinese military forces held exercises last week near Taiwan in answer to a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation to the island.
26The Biden administration said the president repeated that the U.S. will observe the "One China" policy.
27The policy recognizes the mainland as the government of China but permits informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan.
28The administration's statement on the meeting said Biden added that the U.S. "strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo" or to harm peace across the Taiwan Strait.
29The status quo describes the current situation.
30It also said that Biden raised concerns about China's human rights record.
31And it added that Biden wanted to "protect American workers and industries from (China's) unfair trade and economic practices."
32The two also spoke about issues including North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran.
33Paul Haenle is a former U.S. official and China expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
34He said the meeting was a chance "to set the terms of what is a new era in U.S.-China relations."
35U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and several aides joined the president for the video conference at the White House.
36Xi was in the the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with a number of advisers.
37Although there have been tensions between the countries, reports say there have been points of agreement in recent months.
38Last week at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, the two countries promised to speed up action to limit the release of gasses linked to climate change.
39The Biden administration has said it considers climate change to be an issue that the two nations should cooperate on.
40"None of this is a favor to either of our countries - what we do for one another - but it's just responsible world leadership," Biden told Xi.
41I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
1U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by video conference on Tuesday. The discussion was meant to be an effort to reduce tensions between the sides. 2The Zoom video conference lasted more than three hours. 3The leaders appeared to be at ease. Xi greeted Biden as his "old friend." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exchange was constructive, or useful. 4"If China-U.S. relations cannot return to the past, they should face the future," Zhao said. 5However, both leaders held firm to their positions on issues that divide the two countries. 6Xi warned that the U.S. and Taiwan are playing with fire over the self-governing island that China considers part of its territory. 7An effort to lower tensions 8The two leaders appeared to be aiming to ease tensions that had increased under former U.S. President Donald Trump. 9"It seems to me our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended," Biden told Xi at the start of the meeting. 10Xi returned Biden's friendly words in his opening remarks. He said, "China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation." 11Wang Huiyao is president of the Center for China and Globalization, a research group in Beijing. He said the friendly tone sets an example for officials in both countries. He said the idea was to try to identify common ground rather than to blame each other. 12Wang said, "I don't expect this one summit to bring us back to the good old days, but certainly it stops the downward spiral." 13The Biden administration set low expectations for the meeting. It made no major announcements related to the exchange. 14The U.S. did say the two leaders had an extended discussion on Taiwan. Tensions have heightened as China has sent a growing number of fighter jets toward the island. The U.S. and its allies have sailed warships though the Taiwan Strait. 15The Chinese statement on the meeting said Xi blamed Taiwan for seeking U.S. support to gain independence and some on the American side for using Taiwan to contain China. 16"Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burnt," the statement said. 17Chinese military forces held exercises last week near Taiwan in answer to a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation to the island. 18The Biden administration said the president repeated that the U.S. will observe the "One China" policy. The policy recognizes the mainland as the government of China but permits informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan. 19The administration's statement on the meeting said Biden added that the U.S. "strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo" or to harm peace across the Taiwan Strait. The status quo describes the current situation. 20It also said that Biden raised concerns about China's human rights record. And it added that Biden wanted to "protect American workers and industries from (China's) unfair trade and economic practices." 21The two also spoke about issues including North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran. 22Paul Haenle is a former U.S. official and China expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He said the meeting was a chance "to set the terms of what is a new era in U.S.-China relations." 23U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and several aides joined the president for the video conference at the White House. Xi was in the the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with a number of advisers. 24Although there have been tensions between the countries, reports say there have been points of agreement in recent months. 25Last week at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, the two countries promised to speed up action to limit the release of gasses linked to climate change. 26The Biden administration has said it considers climate change to be an issue that the two nations should cooperate on. 27"None of this is a favor to either of our countries - what we do for one another - but it's just responsible world leadership," Biden told Xi. 28I'm Mario Ritter Jr. 29Ken Moritsugu and Aamer Madhani reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 30We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 31__________________________________________________ 32Words in This Story 33veer -v. to change direction quickly or suddenly 34intend -v. to plan or want to do (something) : to have (something) in your mind as a purpose or goal 35tone --n. a quality, feeling, or attitude expressed by the words that someone uses in speaking or writing 36spiral -n. a situation in which something continuously increases, decreases, or gets worse - usually singular 37unilateral --adj. involving only one country or group 38era -n. a period of time linked to a person, quality or event 39summit -n. a high-level meeting 40common ground -n. an area of agreement; issues that can be agreed upon 41play with fire -expression to do something risky or dangerous