Iran Press/ America: US President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping held a fifth call as leaders on Thursday, speaking for more than two hours, as concerns mounted over a possible visit to Chinese Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The White House said the call began at 8:33 a.m. (1233 GMT) and ended at 10:50 a.m. (1450 GMT). US officials had said it would have a broad agenda, including a discussion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.
At its core, US officials see the exchange as another chance to manage competition between the world's two largest economies, whose ties have been increasingly clouded by tensions over Chinese Taipei, which Xi has vowed to reunite with the mainland by force if necessary.
Beijing has issued warnings about repercussions should Pelosi visit Chinese Taipei, a move that would be a dramatic, though not unprecedented, show of US support for the island.
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Meanwhile, the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, made its way to the South China Sea following a five-day port call to Singapore, departing Changi Naval Base on Tuesday, the US 7th Fleet said in reply to a query from Bloomberg News.
The trip follows remarks this week by China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian that Beijing was getting "seriously prepared" for the possibility that Pelosi could visit Chinese Taipei.
China once again warned the United States of "consequences" over a potential visit by US House Speaker to Chinese Taipei, with tensions soaring ahead of an expected phone call between American President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
"We are firmly opposed to Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. If the US pushes ahead and challenges China's bottom line... the US side will bear all the consequences," warned Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a regular press conference.
China has repeatedly warned the US against formal ties with Chinese Taipei, which is the sovereign territory of China.
Under the "One China" policy, nearly all countries across the globe recognize Beijing's sovereignty over Chinese Taipei, including the US, which has no formal diplomatic ties with the territory but continues to support its anti-China stance and supply it with massive amounts of armaments.
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