Biden reiterates the status quo with Taiwan and Xi warns him not to “play with fire”

Euskaraz irakurri: Xik “suarekin ez jolasteko” ohartarazi dio Bideni honek Taiwanen status quo-a nabarmendu ostean

The American President, Joe Bidenreaffirmed this Thursday his respect for the status quo of Taiwan in an attempt to reassure China, while its president, Xi Jinpingtook the opportunity to launch a stern warning to Washington and ask it “not to play with fire”.

Biden and Xi had a more than two-hour phone call that the White House described as “direct and honest” while the Chinese Foreign Ministry called it “frank and insightful.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry was the first to report the content of the conversation, the first since marchin which Xi reiterated his claims to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

Xi, moreover, rejected any “foreign interference” but made no mention of a possible trip to Taiwan by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. She has not yet confirmed the trip, but China has already warned that she will respond firmly to a visit she perceives as a threat.

“Playing with fire will make you burn yourself,” the Foreign Office warned in its statement, expressing its hope that “the US can see this clearly.”

In the conversation, Xi also called on Biden to abide by the principle of “one china” that Beijing imposes as the basis of its ties with any country and that means that the only Chinese government that Washington must recognize is the one based in Beijing, which distances it from Taiwan’s independence aspirations.

According to a senior White House official, Biden reiterated in the call his respect for that principle that made Washington break diplomatic ties with Taipei almost half a century ago and establish them with Beijing. In return, then, the US signed the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979which commits the country to the defense of the island, although it does not make it clear whether the power would intervene in the event of a Chinese attack.

That policy of “strategic ambiguity” apparently broke down in May when Biden warned about the possibility of US intervention if China invaded Taiwan, although the White House later tried to make it clear that there had been no change in policy towards the island.

In the call with Xi, the first since that incident, Biden sought calm down of the Asian giant and reiterate Washington’s respect for the status quo.

Specifically, the White House explained that Biden told Xi that US policy has not changed and that his government continues to “strongly” oppose any unilateral effort to “change the status quo or undermine peace and stability.” in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China from the island.