Biden, Xi to hold fifth talk of their presidencies Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will speak Thursday morning with China's Xi Jinping, the fifth conversation of their presidencies, as the two leaders chart the future of their complicated relationship at a time of simmering economic and geopolitical tensions.

The call, at 8:30 a.m. EDT, comes as Biden aims to find new ways to work with the rising global power as well as strategies to contain China's influence around the world. Differing perspectives on global health, economic policy and human rights have long tested the relationship — with China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine adding further strain.

The latest pressure point has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, the island that governs itself democratically and receives informal defensive support from the U.S., but which China considers part of its territory. Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation, a threat U.S. officials are taking with heightened seriousness in light of Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

“If the U.S. insists on going its own way and challenging China’s bottom line, it will surely be met with forceful responses,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters earlier this week. “All ensuing consequences shall be borne by the U.S.”

Pelosi would be would be the highest-ranking U.S. elected official to travel to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he was House speaker. Biden last week told reporters that U.S. military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at the moment.

John Kirby, a U.S. national security spokesman, said Wednesday that it was important for Biden and Xi to regularly touch base.

“The president wants to make sure that...