Joe Biden pressed Chinese leader Xi Jinping over human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang late Wednesday in their first call since the new US president took office on January 20, according to the White House.
Setting the stage for what could be a contentious relationship between the two superpowers, Biden offered Xi his “greetings and well wishes” for the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year celebrations, the White House said in a statement.
But, establishing his own foundations for Washington-Beijing ties after four tumultuous years under predecessor Donald Trump, Biden immediately challenged his counterpart over China’s projection of power in the Indo-Pacific region, the crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and the oppressive treatment of millions of Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.
In the call Biden told Xi that his priorities were to protect the American people’s security, prosperity, health and way of life, and to preserve “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the White House said in a statement on the call.
Specifically, Biden “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,” it said.
The two leaders also spoke about the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and weapons proliferation.
“Biden committed to pursuing practical, results-oriented engagements when it advances the interests of the American people and those of our allies,” the White House said.
Earlier, Biden anticipated the US rivalry with China will take the form of “extreme competition” rather than conflict between the two world powers.
Speaking about Xinping, Biden said: “He’s very tough. He doesn’t have — and I don’t mean it as a criticism, just the reality — he doesn’t have a democratic, small D, bone in his body.”
“I’ve said to him all along, that we need not have a conflict. But there’s going to be extreme competition,” Biden said. “I’m not going to do it the way (Donald) Trump did. We’re going to focus on international rules of the road.”
China is considered in Washington as the United States’ number one strategic adversary, and the primary challenge on the world stage.
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