(Singapore, Nov 14, 2022) US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jiping reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to a White House statement.
It was made right after Biden and Xi wrapped up their first in-person meeting tonight — the first one since the former became the US President two years ago.
The two also voiced hope that US and China can manage growing differences and avoid conflict.
They shook hands for eight seconds in front of the two nations’ flags before starting a long-awaited sit-down on the Indonesian resort of Bali ahead of this year’s Group of 20 summit.
During the meeting, Biden told his counterpart that they were both responsible for preventing their superpower competition from turning into conflict, in rare talks aimed at thawing ties that are at their worst in decades.
“It’s just great to see you,” Biden told Xi before the meeting, as he put an arm around him.
But Biden also told Xi that China’s “aggressive” actions on Taiwan put peace at risk, the White House statement said.
The statement also said that Biden had raised objections to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan”. It added that such actions “undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region”.
He also brought up other tough topics during the meeting, according to the White House readout, including Beijing’s “non-market economic practices”, and practices in “Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly”.
Xi, who is fresh from securing a norm-breaking third term, told Biden that the world has “come to a crossroads”.
“So we need to chart the right course for the China-US relationship… We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship.”
