Chinese President Xi said conflicts in no one’s interests, Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly
Chinese President Xi said conflicts in no one’s interests, Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly

Chinese President Xi said conflicts in no one’s interests, Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly

 

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Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Joe Biden on Friday that conflicts and confrontations such as the events unfolding in Ukraine are in the interests of no-one, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

State-to-state relations should not advance to the stage of confrontation, and conflicts and confrontations are not in the interests of anyone, Xi told Biden.

China and the US should shoulder their share of international responsibilities and work for world peace and tranquility, Xi said.

The talks were the first between the two leaders since their virtual summit last November, when Xi and Biden exchanged views on China-US relations and issues of mutual interest.

Noting the new major developments in the international landscape since then, Xi said the prevailing trend of peace and development is facing serious challenges, and the world is neither tranquil nor stable.

“The top priorities now are to continue dialogue and negotiations, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis, cease fighting and end the war as soon as possible,” Xi said.

Xi advocated Russia-Ukraine dialogue and negotiations, and suggested Washington and NATO conduct talks with Russia to solve the “crux” of the Ukraine crisis and resolve the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.

“The Ukraine crisis is something that we don’t want to see,” Chinese state media quoted Xi saying in the call, which it said was requested by the U.S. side.

“As permanent members of the UN Security Council and the world’s two leading economies, we must not only guide the China-U.S. relations forward along the right track, but also shoulder our share of international responsibilities and work for world peace and tranquility,” Xi told Biden.

The video call lasting about one hour and 52 minutes, according to state media.

In addition, Xi said Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly to avoid a negative impact on Sino-US relations.

“Some individuals in the US are sending the wrong signals to pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and that’s very dangerous,” Xi said.”If the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, it will have a subversive impact on the relationship between the two countries.”

A White House statement after the meeting said that Biden reiterated in the call with Xi that US policy on Taiwan has not changed, and emphasized that Washington “continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo.”

“We hope the US side will pay adequate attention” to the issue, Xi told Biden.

According to the White House, Biden warned Xi of ‘consequences’ if Beijing gave material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while both sides stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

While the White House did not detail what those consequences could be, or how the US would define “material support”, press secretary Jen Psaki indicated China’s massive trade flows could be impacted.

“Sanctions are certainly one tool in the tool box,” Psaki said at a regular news briefing when asked whether China could face trade tariffs or sanctions.

“He described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians,” the White House said in statement, adding that Biden “underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.”

Xi warned against sanctions.

“Sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer. If further escalated, they could trigger serious crises in global economy and trade, finance, energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, crippling the already languishing world economy and causing irrevocable losses,” Xi was quoted as saying.