U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with media on July 20, 2022, after disembarking Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews 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 elaborate on reasons for the call or planned topics of discussion. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two leaders last spoke in March, mostly about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China has refused to call the attack an invasion.
“I think I’ll be talking to President Xi within the next 10 days,“ Biden told reporters Wednesday Eastern time, according to a White House transcript.
When asked whether he thought Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi should visit Taiwan this summer, Biden said: “The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now, but I don’t know what the status of it is.”
The Financial Times this week reported, citing sources, that Pelosi planned to take a delegation to Taiwan in August — the first visit by someone in her position in 25 years.
China warned it would take “strong and resolute measures” if such a trip were to take place, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing.
Taiwan is a democratically self-ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory. China has maintained it seeks peaceful reunification with Taiwan.