China and the US will plan a Biden-Xi call in the coming weeks, the White House says

BEIJING (AP) — Beijing and Washington will plan for a phone call in the coming weeks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House said Wednesday after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

Sullivan’s first trip to China as national security advisor was aimed at keeping high-level communications open and stabilizing bilateral relations to avoid conflict.

The White House statement said both sides would keep lines of communication open, including planning for a “leader-level call” in the coming weeks.

There was no indication the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves the Oval Office.

The White House said the two sides also planned to hold a military theater commander telephone call in the near future.

China has rapidly expanded its military, and there are concerns that Taiwan and the South China Sea are becoming flashpoints.

Wang told Sullivan that Taiwan’s independence poses the greatest threat to stability in the immediate region. He demanded that the U.S. “stop arming the island but support China’s peaceful unification,” according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that split from authoritarian communist China in 1949, has rejected Beijing’s demands that it accept unification with the mainland by peace or by force. The U.S. is obligated under a domestic law to provide the island with sufficient hardware and technology to deter invasion.

The White House statement said Sullivan “underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

Beijing also warned Washington “not to support or indulge the Philippines to infringe” upon China’s