Taiwan tensions raise fears of US-China conflict in Asia
After sending a record number of military aircraft to harass Taiwan over China’s National Day holiday, Beijing has toned down the saber rattling but tensions remain high, with the rhetoric and reasoning behind the exercises unchanged.
Taiwanese voters have chosen pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their president in a historic election, cementing a path that is increasingly divergent from China.
The move angered Beijing, which issued a statement after the results insisting that "Taiwan is part of China".
While Beijing has called for "peaceful reunification", it has also not ruled out the use of force.
It had cast the Taiwan election as a choice between "war and peace".
China has ramped up its military presence around the island in recent months, heightening fears of a possible conflict.
Beijing's communist government reviles...
Taiwanese voters have chosen pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their president in a historic election, cementing a path that is increasingly divergent from China.
The move angered Beijing, which issued a statement after the results insisting that "Taiwan is part of C
Nov 11: The much-awaited meeting comes at a time when relations between the two superpowers have particularly soured.
This has been fuelled by Beijing's claims over self-ruled Taiwan and its increasing assertiveness in Asia.
The US has responded by restricting access to computer chip technology.
That has hit China's export-driven economy which uses the tech to make and sell everything from phones to electric cars.
Given the recent spike in tensions and rhetoric, the world - and America's Asian allies such India, Japan and Australia - will be closely watching the meeting scheduled to take place on Monday in Bali ahead of the G20 Summit.
Mr Xi has spent most of the pandemic in China and only recently began travelling overseas again.
"I'm sure we'll discuss Taiwan... and what I want to do with him when we talk is lay out... what each of our red lines are," Mr Biden said at a press conference on Thursday after the White House confirmed the meeting.
This way they can "determine whether or not they conflict with one another… and if they do, how to resolve and how to work it out", he said. However, he also added that he was not willing to "make any fundamental concessions" about the US' policy on Taiwan.
Mr Biden, unlike previous US presidents, has repeatedly said the US would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
But the White House has always rolled back his comments, insisting that Washington's stance of "strategic ambiguity" - under which it does not commit to defending Taiwan but also does not rule out the option - remains unchanged.
The White House later said on Thursday that it would brief Taiwan on the results of the meeting, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying the aim was to make Taiwan feel "secure and comfortable" about US support.
Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry said the US should work together with China to avoid misunderstandings and misjudgements, adding that while it wants peace with the US, "the Taiwan question" is at the core of its interests.
At the Chinese Communist Party congress last month, Mr Xi reiterated China's position on Taiwan where they would "never promise to renounce the use of force".
He said they reserved the option of "taking all measures necessary" if "outside forces" interfered with China's claims.
The US has long been walking a tightrope over Taiwan. A cornerstone of its relationship with Beijing is the One China policy, according to which Washington acknowledges only one Chinese government - in Beijing - and has no formal ties with Taiwan.
But it also maintains close relations with Taiwan and sells arms to it under the Taiwan Relations Act, which states that the US must provide the island with the means to defend itself.
Aug 3: It accused Ms Pelosi, the most senior US politician in 25 years to visit the island China claims as its own, of "playing with fire".
"Those who play with fire will perish by it," Beijing warned in a statement.
US national security spokesperson John Kirby said there was "no reason for this visit to become a spurring event for a crisis or conflict".
Speaking after Ms Pelosi's arrival, he reiterated to reporters that the trip was consistent with the US's long-standing policy towards China and did not violate the country's sovereignty.
Early on Wednesday, Ms Pelosi made her way to parliament, where she spoke to Taiwan's deputy speaker and then addressed the media.
She said she came "in peace to the region" and that she wanted to increase parliamentary exchanges between Washington and Taipei, and commended Taiwan for being "one of the freest societies in the world". She then headed in to a closed-door session.
She also said that a US bill on computer chips would be a good opportunity to increase cooperation given that Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC produces more than half of the world's semiconductors.
Ms Pelosi is expected to meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen later on Wednesday, as well as a group of human rights activists.
Her visit comes despite repeated warnings from China, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province which will one day unite with it. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.
Even before Ms Pelosi's visit, tensions between the US and China have been rising for years - with Taiwan being one of the major flash points.
As her plane touched down, Chinese state media reported that its military jets were crossing the Taiwan strait. Taiwan denied those reports at the time, but later said that more than 20 Chinese military planes had entered its air defence zone on Tuesday.
Within an hour of Ms Pelosi's arrival, China announced that the People's Liberation Army will conduct a series of live-fire military drills in the air and at sea around Taiwan later this week - warning ships and aircraft not to enter the affected areas.
This follows days of escalating tensions in which Chinese warplanes had already ventured out as far as the median line, the unofficial divide separating China and Taiwan in the waters between them.
'Not going to be intimidated'
While Ms Pelosi's visit had been the subject of huge international speculation for days, it had been shrouded in secrecy until the last minute.
When she set off on a tour of Asia on Sunday, there was no mention of Taiwan on her official itinerary, which included Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.
The White House has been open in its opposition to any such trip, and President Joe Biden said the military assessed it as "not a good idea".
But after Ms Pelosi landed, the White House's Mr Kirby told CNN this visit was similar to previous trips by other officials, adding that the "United States is not going to be intimidated by threats".
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi released a statement reiterating China's opposition to Ms Pelosi's visit.
Mr Wang called it an "open political provocation", adding that it "seriously violates the one-China principle and harms China's sovereignty".
"The US must stop obstructing China's great reunification. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China".
China exerts international pressure on other nations to accept its "One China" principle - that there is only one Chinese nation, based in Beijing. Only 15 nations in the world have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The US however, abides by the "One China" policy - which sees it recognising and having formal ties with China rather than Taiwan - but allows it to maintain a "robust unofficial" relationship with the island. That includes selling weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.
JULY 29: President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that the US strongly opposed any unilateral moves to change the island's status.
But he added that US policy on Taiwan had not changed.
Beijing said Mr Xi had told Mr Biden to abide by the one-China principle, warning him that "whoever plays with fire will get burnt".
Tensions over the issue have increased ahead of a rumoured plan for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan.
The state department says Ms Pelosi has not announced any travel, but China has warned of "serious consequences" if she were to proceed with such a visit.
Last week, Mr Biden told reporters "the military thinks it's not a good idea", but his White House has called Chinese rhetoric against any such trip "clearly unhelpful and not necessary".
Ms Pelosi, who is next in line to the presidency after the vice-president, would be the highest-ranking US politician to travel to Taiwan since 1997.
During Thursday's phone call, Mr Biden and Mr Xi also discussed arranging a possible face-to-face meeting, a senior Biden administration official said, describing the bilateral as "direct" and "honest".
When Mr Biden was US vice-president he hosted Mr Xi during a visit to the US by the Chinese leader in 2015, but they have not met in person during Mr Biden's presidency.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must become a part of the country - and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.
Under the one-China policy, Washington does not recognise Taipei diplomatically. But the US does sell weapons to the democratically self-governed island so that it can defend itself.
The White House said that apart from Taiwan, the two leaders discussed a range of other issues, including climate change and health security.
The Biden administration has been considering whether to lift Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports, arguing that such a move could ease soaring US inflation. But the US president did not discuss that issue with Mr Xi on Thursday, the senior US official said.
Analysts believe that both Joe Biden and Xi Jinping want to avoid an open conflict, the BBC's State Department Correspondent Barbara Plett Usher reports. But neither has made any attempt to alter their competing narratives, which was illustrated again by their contrasting statements about Thursday's call.
In a brief summary, the White House said it was part of efforts to "responsibly manage differences" and work together where "interests align".
In a much longer one, Beijing said many of their interests did align. But it blamed the US for the deteriorating relationship, criticising the Biden administration's view of China as a "primary rival" and Washington's "most serious long-term challenge."
Difficult to see anything positive
Much is being made of the fact that President Xi told President Biden that "those who play with fire will get burned".
It is a strong warning to America - but is not unprecedented. China's foreign ministry used exactly the same language when a US congressional delegation visited Taiwan earlier this year. The same phrase was used by China's defence ministry in a warning to Taiwan last year.
The fact that it has now been used by President Xi does give it more weight.
But it doesn't mean China is preparing military action against Taiwan, if - for example - Nancy Pelosi arrives here next week. It is instead telling America that if it continues down the current path, it will eventually lead to conflict.
It's difficult to see anything positive from this phone call in terms of the wider US-China relationship.
Questions about Taiwan’s status have been fueling tensions among Taiwan and China and the United States (US). The long-standing conflict between Taiwan and