US and Chinese leaders 'confront' for 2 hours in first phone call
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had their first phone call, discussing many issues in bilateral relations.
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| Chinese and US leaders. Photo: AP |
According to Reuters, whileChinese President Xi JinpingWhile calling for win-win cooperation, the US President called China America's "biggest rival" and vowed to defeat Beijing.
February 11,President Bidentold a bipartisan group of senators about the need to upgrade America's infrastructure to make it stronger, as the country faces challenges from China.
The US president said he had spoken to the Chinese president for two hours on the evening of February 10 and warned senators: “If we don’t do something, they’re going to eat our lunch. They’ve invested billions of dollars to solve problems related to transportation, the environment, a whole host of other problems. We just have to move forward.”
The White House said President Biden emphasized to President Xi Jinping that the US priority is maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, a region where the US and China are major strategic competitors.
Mr. Biden also expressed fundamental concerns about China's "coercive and unfair" trade practices as well as Beijing's handling of issues such as Hong Kong... White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said President Biden expressed concerns about China's lack of transparency about Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Mr. Xi Jinping told the US leader that confrontation between the two countries would be disastrous and the two sides should re-establish measures to avoid misunderstandings, China's Foreign Ministry said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has maintained a tough stance on issues such as Hong Kong, calling them issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity. He expressed hope that Washington would approach the issue with caution.
The recent phone call was the first ever telephone conversation between US and Chinese leaders.
