U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media on July 20, 2022, after Air Force One disembarks at Andrews Joint Base in Maryland.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
BEIJING — U.S. President Joe Biden said he expects to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of the month.
He did not specify the reasons for the call and the planned topics of conversation. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two leaders last spoke in March, mostly about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. China refused to call the attack an invasion.
“I think I’m going to be talking to President Xi in the next 10 days,” Biden told reporters Wednesday ET, according to a White House transcript.
Asked if he thought House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should visit Taiwan this summer, Biden said: “The military doesn’t think it’s a good idea right now, but I don’t know what her status is.”
The Financial Times this week reported, citing sources, that Pelosi plans to take a delegation to Taiwan in August – the first visit by a person to her seat in 25 years.
China has warned that it will take “stern and decisive measures” if such a trip takes place, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press briefing.
Taiwan is a democratically self-governing island that Beijing considers part of its territory. China claims it is seeking a peaceful reunification with Taiwan.
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