Xi, Biden have phone call

Washington: United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping yesterday held their first telephone call as leaders, Biden saying a free and open IndoPacific was a priority and Xi warning confrontation would be a ‘‘disaster’’ for both nations.

Biden also underscored his ‘‘fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair practices, its crackdown in Hong Kong, reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan’’, the White House said.

Xi told Biden confrontation would be a ‘‘disaster’’ and the two sides should reestablish the means to avoid misjudgments, according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s account of the call.

The Chinese leader maintained a hardline tone regarding Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan, which Xi told Biden were matters of ‘‘sovereignty and territorial integrity’’ that he hoped the US would approach cautiously. — Reuters