Reset ‘critical’: Xi Jinping tells Joe Biden in ‘candid’ call

The Chinese President and his American counterpart speak for the first time in seven months.

The leaders of the world's two biggest economies ‘conducted candid’ talks on Friday. Picture: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told his US counterpart Joe Biden that Washington’s confrontational approach to Beijing could “spell disaster for both countries and the world”.

In their first conversation in seven months, Mr Xi said America had caused “serious difficulties” for China.

“Whether China and the US can properly handle their relations … is critical for the future and destiny of the world,” Mr Xi said during their 90-minute phone call on Friday. “And this is a question of the century that both countries must answer,” he said, according to a summary of the call issued by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Mr Biden initiated the call in an attempt to reset lines of communication, as Xi’s China has become increasingly isolated from much of the world as the Covid-19 pandemic has continued.

The White House said the two leaders had a “broad, strategic discussion in which they discussed areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge”. A Biden administration official described the tone as “familiar” and “candid”, but said there were no specific requests or outcomes.

China’s readout described the call as “candid, in-depth and extensive”. It was only the second time the leaders of the world’s two most powerful countries had spoken since Mr Biden’s inauguration in January.

Since their first call — on February 10 — Mr Biden has infuriated Beijing by co-ordinating America’s allies and partners to push back against China’s challenge to the international rules-based order. Mr Xi’s administration has responded by demanding America stop its “confrontation” with China if it wants Beijing’s co-operation on issues including climate change and the pandemic.

On a visit to China in July, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was given two lists of demands to improve relations. The demands included revoking sanctions on communist party officials, lifting visa bans on Chinese students, reopening the door for Confucius Institutes in America and making life easier for state-affiliated journalists.

During Friday’s call, Mr Xi took a less combative approach but insisted Mr Biden had to change America’s China policy to one of “co-operation” if it wanted Beijing’s help on international issues.

Mr Biden told Mr Xi he wanted to “responsibly manage the competition between the United States and (China)”, according to the White House. “President Biden underscored the United States’ enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” it said.

Shi Yinhong, director of American Studies Centre at Beijing’s Renmin University, said the readouts from the two sides demonstrated they were at a clear “standstill” with “no progress” made on major issues.

“The Biden administration has openly declared a long term confrontation with China,” Professor Shi told The Australian. “China has not announced it openly, but the country and the leadership are aware of it.”

Mr Xi has spoken of this indirectly in his domestically focused speeches. Last week, the Chinese President warned young party cadres of the increasing “risks and challenges we face”.

Foreign policy analysts said Friday’s talk at least demonstrated high-level communication was open between the two sides.

Mr Xi has not left China for 600 days, the longest stretch of any G20 leader. Officials have not confirmed whether he will attend in person late October’s G-20 meeting in Rome or the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

Ryan Hass, a former director for China on America’s National Security Council, said Mr Xi’s almost two years of domestic isolation was an “underappreciated variable in understanding events inside China these days”.