BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden to “stop arming Taiwan” and that China’s reunification with the self-ruled island was “unstoppable”, Beijing said on Thursday (Nov 16).
“The US side should … stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification. China will realise reunification, and this is unstoppable,” Xi told Biden, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
According to a senior US official, Biden asked Xi in talks on Wednesday to respect upcoming elections in Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing. “We asked the Chinese to respect the electoral process in Taiwan.”
Xi told Biden during their four-hour meeting on Wednesday that Taiwan was the biggest, most dangerous issue in US-China ties, the senior US official told reporters.
The official quoted Xi as saying China’s preference was for peaceful reunification with the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan, but went on to talk about conditions in which force could be used.
Xi was trying to indicate that China is not preparing for a massive invasion of Taiwan, but that does not change the US approach, the official said.
“President Xi … underscored that this was the biggest, most potentially dangerous issue in US-China relations, laid out clearly that, you know, their preference was for peaceful reunification but then moved immediately to conditions that the potential use of force could be utilised,” the senior US official told reporters, referring to Xi’s comments on Taiwan.
Biden responded by assuring Xi that Washington was determined to maintain peace in the region.
“President Biden responded very clearly that the long-standing position of the United States was … determination to maintain peace and stability,” the official said.
“President Xi responded: Look, peace is … all well and good but at some point we need to move towards resolution more generally,” the official added.
Biden and Xi met for the first time in a year on Wednesday for talks aimed at easing friction between the two superpowers over military conflicts, drug trafficking and artificial intelligence, and said they had made “real progress.”
China has stepped up military activity to try and force Taiwan to accept Beijing’s sovereignty, despite strong objections from the government in Taipei.
Senior US military officers have said that Xi has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027. Beijing has not ruled out using force to take the island, though it has never shared details about war preparations.