U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday with both leaders discussing the need to avoid letting competition between the world's two largest economies veer into conflict, The White House said in a statement.
The talks merely two days after the US-China spat near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have hit an all-time low and this was only the second call between the two leaders since Biden took office in January.
"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," said a readout of the call, provided by 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," the statement said.
"They agreed to engage on both sets of issues openly and straightforwardly. This discussion, as President Biden made clear, was part of the United States' ongoing effort to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and Chin. Analysts point out that there has been a major shift in US disposition towards China following the exit of former President Donald Trump and the arrival of Biden in the White House.
“Trump was ideologically opposed to China and was in Cold War mindset with the deposition of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as the end game. Biden on the other hand does not pose an existential threat to China. Instead, it is to manage ties with Beijing in a manner which maintains Washington’s ascendancy in the relationship,” an insider who did not wish to be named said.
Biden addressed cyber issues during the roughly 90-minute conversation, and generally sought to have a "broad and strategic discussion" about how to manage the competitive US-China relationship to avoid veering into conflict, CNN cited a senior administration official as saying.
The conversation between the two leaders is the natural culmination of a several exchanges between top officials of the US administration and the mandarins in Beijing. US deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman has been leading these exchanges, which could culminate in an Xi-Biden summit. Biden had earlier held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on global nuclear security.
According to Chinese state media Xinhua news, Xi told Biden that America's policy towards China has caused "serious difficulties" for the countries' relations.
"If China and the US work together, both countries and the world will benefit; If China and the US confront each other, both countries and the world will suffer. China-US relation is not a question of whether it needs to be done well, but a question of how to do it well," Xi said, according to the Xinhua report.
Occasional high-level meetings between US and Chinese officials have failed to make headway on contentious issues ranging from climate change, to human rights, and transparency over the origins of COVID-19.
During recent months, the two sides have been involved in a slanging match with each side criticising the other for not honouring international treaty obligations.
The Biden administration has been pushed onto the backfoot after the chaotic U.S.withdrawal from Afghanistan, but has indicated that ending America's longest war will give the U.S. more space to focus on more pressing threats stemming from China's rapid rise.
