US President Joe Biden laid out to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping the “consequences” of any support for Russia in its war against neighboring Ukraine, the White House said Friday.
The comments came during a nearly two-hour phone call between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies which touched on Ukraine, Taiwan and their own relationship.
“He described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians,” the White House said in a statement.
Biden also “underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,” the statement said.
Beijing has consistently refused to condemn its fellow authoritarian ally, and Washington fears China could now deliver financial and military support for Russia, transforming an already explosive transatlantic standoff into a global dispute.
On the thorny issue of Taiwan, Biden told Xi that “US policy on Taiwan has not changed, and emphasized that the United States continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo.”
Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry noted there had been “erroneous” signals from the US side on the state of self-ruled, democratic Taiwan, which Beijing sees as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
“Mishandling of the Taiwan question will have a disruptive impact on bilateral ties. China hopes that the US will give due attention to this issue,” the foreign ministry said in its English-language readout of the meeting.
Biden and Xi also “agreed on the importance of maintaining open lines of communication, to manage the competition between our two countries,” the White House said.
