Biden asked Xi to respect Taiwan’s electoral process

During the recent APEC meeting in San Francisco, President Biden met Chinese President Xi Jinping several times.   A formal official meeting lasted for four hours on November 15.  The high-ranking officials from both sides also attended the event.    Biden told Xi that the US would continue to arm Taiwan and stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.   In addition, Biden also asked Xi to respect Taiwan’s electoral process.  From US’ point of view, the peace in Taiwan Strait is the most sensitive topic in the relationship with China.   According to the US official, Biden said he reaffirmed the US’ “one China” policy and insisted that any resolution must be peaceful.   “I’m not going to change that,” Biden said. “That’s not going to change”. Although Biden chided him for China’s massive military build-up around Taiwan, Xi said that China is not plan for a massive invasion of Taiwan in the near future.  Regarding the accomplishment of the meeting, “I believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had,” Biden said at a press conference following the summit.   “We’ve made some important progress, I believe.” Biden highlighted the restoration of direct military-to-military contacts, saying they would prevent miscalculations between the two countries and also indicted he had the ability to speak to Xi directly.  In response to the reporter’s question at the end of the press conference, Biden said “Look, he is. He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours”.

In Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Office yesterday thanked US President Joe Biden for reiterating Washington’s commitment to maintaining the “status quo” during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.