Xi Calls for Stable US Relations as Taiwan Vote Tests Ties

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(Bloomberg) -- Xi Jinping said China wants to work with the US to improve ties between the world’s biggest economies — remarks that emerged just days before an election in Taiwan that could impact the relationship between the two countries for years.

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“China is willing to work with the US to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations,” Xi said in a Jan. 4 letter detailed by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

China’s leader also said Beijing and Washington should “seek more benefits for their two peoples, provide more public goods to the international community” and strive for “security, common prosperity and openness,” according to the statement.

The comments emerged amid a flurry of diplomatic activity between China and the US, the most concrete sign of progress since Xi and President Joe Biden late last year agreed to repair a relationship that was in free fall for much of 2023.

Defense officials from the US and China resumed policy coordination talks at the Pentagon this week — a breakthrough the Biden administration had long sought. On Wednesday, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer met with senior diplomat Liu Jianchao for “candid and constructive discussions,” according to the White House.

Read More: China Balances Hard Line on Taiwan With Push to Improve US Ties

Liu also used his US trip to meet with Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio and with former Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Timothy Geithner. China said those talks focused on promoting trust and reducing suspicions between the two rival nations.

In addition, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng sat down with former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who is visiting the Asian nation this week.

While the various talks represent a big turnaround from early 2023, all that diplomatic goodwill could be put to the test this weekend, when voters in Taiwan head to the polls to choose a new president. China has vowed to bring the island of 23 million people under its control eventually, and refused to rule out the use of force. Biden has said the US would defend Taiwan in case of attack.

Depending on who wins the election, Taiwan could either develop closer ties with China or move nearer to Washington. The Financial Times said that Biden will send a bipartisan group of former top officials to Taiwan following the voting. The US has made similar moves in the past but the decision is still likely to irk Beijing.

When asked about the plan for delegation at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that “China strongly condemns it and firmly opposes it.”

The Taiwan question was her country’s “foremost redline that should not be crossed,” she added.

For now, the two sides seem to be trying to ensure that the relationship isn’t undermined by the Taiwan election or the myriad other issues that have plagued ties for years — including access to critical technology, Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea and human rights disputes.

On Tuesday, Xie Feng, Beijing’s top envoy in Washington, sought to straddle the divide between US-China differences over Taiwan and the broader relationship. In a video speech to The Carter Center’s Forum on Human Rights, he said China “simply has no room for compromise” on Taiwan, yet he tempered his remarks by listing positive developments between the two superpowers.

“The broadest consensus is that we should make the China-US relationship work, not mess it up, which is also a shared expectation of the international community,” Xie said.

--With assistance from Jing Li and James Mayger.

(Updates with comment from China’s Foreign Ministry.)

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