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Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the United States on Saturday not to cross a “red line” in support for Taiwan, but told his counterpart Joe Biden that Beijing was willing to work with the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

Biden and Xi met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru, two months before Trump takes office and amid concerns of new trade wars and diplomatic upheaval.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has refused to rule out using force to seize it, while the United States is the self-ruled island’s main security backer even though it does not recognise Taipei diplomatically.

Xi told Biden that the “Taiwan issue, democracy and human rights, pathways and systems, and development interests are China’s four red lines that must not be challenged”, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

“These are the most important guardrails and safety net for China-US relations,” CCTV reported Xi as saying.

“The separatist actions of ‘Taiwan independence’ are incompatible with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he added.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Sunday that “China’s ongoing military provocations near Taiwan are the root cause of destroying regional peace and stability and the major threat to global economic prosperity”.

Xi also told Biden that Washington “should not intervene in bilateral disputes… and not condone or support provocative impulses” in the South China Sea, according to CCTV.

Beijing has this year pressed its sweeping claims in the contested waterway with greater assertiveness, despite increased frictions with regional neighbours and a longstanding international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

Xi also said China’s position on the war in Ukraine was “open and aboveboard”, and that Beijing would not allow tensions on the Korean peninsula to “descend into conflict or chaos”, CCTV reported.

He announced during a separate meeting that China would host the next APEC summit in 2026.

State news agency Xinhua said those talks would aim to “unite Asia-Pacific countries to champion open economic and trade cooperation while rejecting protectionist and confrontational trade tactics”.

‘Smooth transition’

But Xi said China would “strive for a smooth transition” in relations with the United States and is ready to work with the incoming Trump government.

“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a smooth transition of the China-US relationship,” Xi told Biden through a translator.

In his first White House term, Trump engaged in a bruising trade war with China, imposing tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese products and drawing retaliation from Beijing.

He embraced a similar stance on the campaign trail this year.

Both sides should “keep exploring the right way for the two major countries to get along well with each other,” Xi said.

Xi warned Saturday that bilateral ties could “encounter twists and turns or even regress” if one side regarded the other as an opponent or enemy, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

“Major country competition should not be the underlying logic of the times,” Xi added, urging against a “small yard, high fences” approach. He added that “a stable China-US relationship is critical” to both parties and the world, noting that Beijing continues to aim for healthy ties.

But he stressed that Beijing’s position of “firmly safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests has not changed,” according to Xinhua.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a news conference in Beijing, Oct. 18, 2023. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will come to Washington for a three-day visit starting Thursday. It’s the latest move by the two countries to keep high-level talks open as the U.S. contends with China’s rise as a global power.
| Photo Credit: AP

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will travel to the United States later this week, senior Biden administration officials said on Monday, in a long-anticipated visit that comes amid soaring tensions in the Middle East, which U.S. officials hope Beijing can help contain.

Mr. Wang will visit Washington from Oct. 26-28 and meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, officials said, declining to say if he will meet with Mr. Biden as well.

The trip will be the highest-level in-person engagement ahead of an expected meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November. It is also the long-awaited reciprocal visit after several top U.S. officials including Mr. Blinken visited Beijing this summer.

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Washington’s top priority has been to ensure the intense competition between the world’s two largest economies and their disagreements over a host of issues from trade to Taiwan and the South China Sea does not veer into conflict.

“We continue to believe that direct face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to raise challenging issues, address misperception and miscommunication, and explore working with the Chinese where our interests intersect,” said one official, who briefed reporters on the trip on condition of anonymity.

The visit also comes as Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s response dominate global headlines, even as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on.

Washington is sending military aid to Israel and Ukraine, while Beijing has grown closer to Russia since the Ukraine war began and has called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s war in Ukraine would both be discussed, a second official said, adding that the U.S. would “push the Chinese to take a more constructive approach on both.”

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Washington has placed importance on China’s ability to influence Iran. Mr. Blinken, during his whirlwind trip last week to the Middle East, held a phone call with Mr. Wang asking him to use Beijing’s clout in the region to ensure the conflict does not widen.

China has consistently called for restraint and a ceasefire in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 Israelis but has also sharpened its criticism of Israel.

Territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas would also be on the agenda during Wang’s visit, the U.S. officials said, adding that Washington was deeply concerned by China’s “destabilizing and dangerous actions” in the South China Sea.

The Philippines, a U.S. ally, on Monday accused Chinese coastguard vessels of “intentionally” colliding with its vessels on a resupply mission, in the most serious incident yet in the waters around the disputed Second Thomas shoal.

Re-establishing military-to-military ties with China remains a top U.S. priority, the officials said, adding that meant sustained communications down the ranks and that China’s apparent lack of a Defense Minister would not be an obstacle.

Defense Minister Li Shangfu has not been seen in public for nearly two months amid a corruption probe.