White House downplays diplomatic tremors caused by Biden's dictator comment
by Naomi Lim, White House Reporter
November 16, 2023 12:01 PM
SAN FRANCISCO — The White House is dismissing the idea President Joe Biden undermined his own diplomacy with Chinese President Xi Jinping by defending his earlier description of him as a dictator.
"The president comes away from the meeting yesterday feeling very good about the content of the discussions over the course of four hours and the progress that we were able to make on some very significant fronts," national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
Kirby cited the resumption of military-to-military communication as one achievement, in addition to commitments to counter fentanyl production and exportation through law enforcement and to cooperate on artificial intelligence.
He did not answer questions regarding whether China shared with the U.S. the circumstances under which it would intervene in Taiwan.
"I won't speak for President Xi. I can't do that. But certainly, the issues around the Taiwan Strait came up and President Biden made it very clear, as he made it clear to all of you last night, he made it clear to President Xi that we don't seek conflict," Kirby said. "We were pursuing peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. That's what we wanted and still want."
He added, "There's no change to our One China policy, that we don't support independence for Taiwan, but that we will, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, continue to provide self-defense capabilities to Taiwan, and, again, made the point that we don't want to see the status quo changed in any sort of a unilateral way and certainly not by force."
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