Joe Biden foresees ‘extreme competition’ with China, not ‘conflict’

Biden said in an excerpt of a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday that he has not spoken with China’s President Xi Jinping since he became US leader.

“Well, we haven’t had occasion to talk to one another yet,” Biden said. “There’s no reason not to call him.”

Biden appears to be concentrating his initial telephone diplomacy on US allies. He so far has spoken with the leaders of Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Nato secretary-general.

In the interview, Biden described Xi as “very bright” and “very tough” but without “a democratic, small D, bone in his body”.

“I’ve said to him all along, that we need not have a conflict. But there’s going to be extreme competition,” Biden said.