President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping resumed talks on the phone for the first time since the two leaders' in-person meeting in November.
The talk is reportedly an attempt to remedy the ongoing tensions between the two countries and discuss global topics such as the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine and artificial intelligence.
The contact was made amid severe worldwide unrest; subjects discussed included North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the continuing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
The conversation also touched on other problems that have soured relations between Washington and Beijing, such as Taiwan, China's recent provocations in the South China Sea, and Beijing's violations of human rights.
Sources indicate that the two leaders also spoke about various areas where US and Chinese officials see potential for collaboration, such as combating drug abuse, the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence, and climate change.
(Photo: Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images) US President Joe Biden visits Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, in Durham, North Carolina, on March 28, 2023.
According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Biden also discussed the recent US export curbs and China's "unfair economic practices" with Xi as the head of the two largest economies in the world.
Kirby also reiterated that the United States President would take action to protect its security and economic interests, including by continuing to restrict the transfer of some cutting-edge technology to China.
As he expressed his concerns, Biden also mentioned how the US will take all necessary measures to prevent "advanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade and investment." The White House claimed that China's trade policies hurt American workers.
According to the broadcaster, Xi expressed dissatisfaction over the U.S. efforts to stifle China's economy, trade, and technology, citing the expansion of the list of Chinese enterprises sanctioned by the government as evidence that risk-taking is being created rather than reduced.
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Biden on the TikTok Ban
In addition, Biden voiced worries on TikTok, which is under the ownership of ByteDance, a Chinese parent firm. Biden highlighted that TikTok's separation from ByteDance was an American national security concern while discussing House-passed legislation, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who briefed reporters on the matter.
The leaders argued and agreed upon a number of topics during the one-hour and forty-five-minute talk, which the White House termed as "candid and constructive." As the White House noted, Biden emphasized the significance of preserving "peace and stability" across the Taiwan Strait and expressed his concerns about China's backing of Russia's defense sector.
China Lags Behind the AI Race
Recently, industry executives in China have called for a focus on new research for both hardware and software, citing the official admission of their country's inferiority to the US in the race for generative artificial intelligence.
Liu Cong, the vice president of Chinese AI company iFlytek, acknowledged that the popular opinion in China was that it still had a long way to go to catch up to the global leaders during a panel discussion on generative AI at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.
He continued that even while the country has been racing to catch up, the main objective must be the realization of independently owned and managed hardware and software, especially in key language models.
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(Photo: Tech Times)
