The two leaders held the fifth conversation of their presidencies, speaking for over two hours amid tensions over Taiwan, trade
President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held "candid" phone talks on Thursday, with Xi warning the US leader not to "play with fire" on Taiwan, according to Chinese state media.
The virtual summit lasting over two hours took place as Beijing and Washington increasingly risk open conflict over the self-ruling island, which China considers part of its territory.
"Those who play with fire will eventually get burned," Xi was quoted as telling Biden in reference to Taiwan, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency -- using the same language he had employed when they spoke last November.
"I hope the US side fully understand that," Xi told Biden.
"The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan issue is consistent,'" Xi was quoted as saying. "It is the firm will of the over 1.4 billion Chinese people to firmly safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
While this was Biden's fifth talk with Xi since becoming president a year and a half ago, it's getting hard to mask deepening mistrust between the two countries amid a trade war and tensions over Taiwan.
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