Taiwan question red line for China, Xi tells Biden

China is ready to engage in dialogue, expand cooperation and manage differences with the United States so as to sustain the hard-won momentum toward stability in China-US relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during his meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru.

Xi told Biden that over the past four years, China-US relations have gone through ups and downs, but the two sides have also been engaged in dialogue and cooperation, adding the relationship has remained stable on the whole.

Under the stewardship of the two presidents, the two teams have worked out through consultations a number of guiding principles for China-US relations, and the two presidents have jointly brought China-US dialogue and cooperation back on track, Xi said.

More than 20 communication mechanisms have been restarted or established, and positive achievements have been made in such areas as diplomacy, security, economy, trade, fiscal affairs, finance, military, counternarcotics, law enforcement, agriculture, climate change, and people-to-people exchange, he said.

Xi asserted it is important to have a correct strategic perception. The Thucydides Trap is not a historical inevitability. A new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won. Containing China is unwise, unacceptable and bound to fail.

China has always honored its words. If the US side always says one thing but does another, it will be detrimental to its own image, and undermine trust between China and the United States, the Chinese President maintained.

As two major countries, neither China nor the United States should seek to remodel the other according to one's own will, suppress the other from the so-called "position of strength," or deprive the other of the legitimate right to development so as to maintain its leading status, XI mentioned.

He pointed out the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China's path and system and China's development right are four red lines for China. They must not be challenged.

China-US cooperation is crucial not only for the economy, trade, agriculture, counternarcotics, law enforcement and public health, but also for handling global challenges of climate change and artificial intelligence (AI) as well as addressing international hotspot issues, said XI.