Biden, Xi talk for over 2 hours at time of US-China tension

Washington DC: President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping held the fifth conversation of their presidencies on Thursday, speaking for more than two hours as they chart the future of their complicated relationship at a time of simmering economic and geopolitical tensions.

The call began at 8:33 a.m. EDT and ended at 10:50 a.m. EDT, according to the White House. It took place as Biden aims to find new ways to work with the rising global power as well as strategies to contain China's influence around the world. Differing perspectives on global health, economic policy and human rights have long tested the relationship with China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine adding further strain.

"The two heads of state had in-depth communication and exchanges on China-US relations and issues of mutual concern," China Central Television reported on its website.

The latest pressure point has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan, the island that governs itself democratically and receives informal defensive support from the US, but which China considers part of its territory. Beijing has said it would view such a trip as a provocation, a threat US officials are taking with heightened seriousness in light of Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

"If the US insists on going its own way and challenging China's bottom line, it will surely be met with forceful responses, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters earlier this week. All ensuing consequences shall be borne by the US." Pelosi would be the highest-ranking US elected official to travel to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he was House speaker.