Joe Biden Voices TikTok Concerns to Xi in Talks Amidst Rising US-China Tensions

In a significant phone conversation on April 2, President Joe Biden addressed concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping about TikTok's ownership and U.S. national security. This was their first dialogue since their November summit, which was held amid escalating global tensions.

U.S. House Passes Bill Targeting TikTok's Ownership, Awaits Senate Decision

According to Reuters, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill giving ByteDance, a Chinese company that owns TikTok, six months to sell the app's U.S. assets or face a ban, citing national security concerns. Senators still need to decide how to proceed. Biden has stated that he would sign such a bill if it came across his desk.

Biden and Xi Reconnect in Crucial Call Amid Global Challenges, Seek Common Ground

President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 2. This was the first conversation between the leaders since their historic in-person summit in November and the latest in US-China efforts to defuse tensions between the two superpowers.

The call comes amid intense global turbulence, with the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as North Korea's nuclear capabilities, among the topics of discussion. Other issues that have strained the US-China relationship have surfaced, including Taiwan, China's recent provocations in the South China Sea, and Beijing's human rights violations.

According to a White House statement (via CNN), the two leaders also discussed several issues that U.S. and Chinese officials see as needing cooperation, including narcotics control, the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence, and climate change.

The White House described the one-hour and 45-minute conversation as "candid and constructive" on various issues on which the leaders agreed and disagreed. According to the White House, Biden emphasized the importance of maintaining "peace and stability" across the Taiwan Strait and expressed concern about China's support for Russia's defense industry.

China's Foreign Ministry also said the two leaders had a "candid and in-depth exchange." Xi described US-China relations in the call as "beginning to stabilize." Still, he warned that "negative factors" were growing and needed "attention from both sides," according to a ministry statement.

Biden Highlights Security and Trade Concerns in Dialogue with Xi, Advocates for Open Communication

Biden expressed his concerns about China's trade tactics, which the White House claims harm American workers, and emphasized that the U.S. will do whatever is necessary to prevent "advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade and investment."

The readout said, "The two leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship through high-level diplomacy and working-level consultations in the weeks and months ahead." Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China.

Biden also expressed concern about TikTok, which Chinese parent company ByteDance owns. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Biden discussed House-passed legislation requiring TikTok to be spun off from ByteDance, emphasizing that it was an issue of American national security.

Xi, for his part, urged the two sides to value peace, prioritize stability, and honor their commitments to each other, an apparent reference to Chinese officials' concerns about American technology and trade restrictions on China, which they see as contradicting Washington's assurances that it does not intend to decouple the two economies.

Beijing's increased focus on those restrictions, which include various controls aimed at limiting China's access to high-end, dual-use American technology, was reflected in Xi's remarks to Biden.

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