US President Joe Biden had his first telephone interview with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday evening, February 10, Washington time, or Thursday morning Beijing time. On the eve of the Lunar New Year on February 12, the US president presented his best wishes to the Chinese people. Above all, according to the White House, he said his priorities were to “To protect the security, prosperity, health and way of life of the American people, and to maintain the [région] free and open indo-pacific ”.
Still according to the White House, he pointed out “His fundamental concerns about coercive and unjust economic practices, the repression in Hong Kong, the human rights abuses in Xinjiang and the increasingly authoritarian actions [menées] in the region, including with regard to Taiwan ”. She specifies that the two presidents had an exchange of views on the Covid-19 epidemic and the shared challenges of health security, climate change and the prevention of the proliferation of armaments. White House press release ends with US President’s pledge to highlight “The interests of the American people and those of [ses] allies ”.
The communication from the Chinese authorities on this interview is much more laconic. The new China news agency simply indicates that on the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year, “Joe Biden presented his best wishes to the Chinese people” and “Xi Jinping once again congratulated Biden”, and “Wish the Chinese and American peoples a happy year of the ox”.
No fundamental change
Since his arrival at the White House at the end of January, Joe Biden had spoken with traditional allies of the United States as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but not yet with his Chinese counterpart. It was not until Saturday, February 6 that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a long telephone conversation with Yang Jiechi, the director of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee and as such a real head of diplomacy. Chinese, paving the way for the meeting of the two heads of state.
The emphasis Joe Biden placed in his first interview on the most sensitive issues confirms that he does not intend to fundamentally change American policy towards Beijing. In the days preceding this call, the American president had spoken of“Extreme competition with China”. He then called the country “More serious competitor”, but no enemy.
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