A White House official declined to lay out the specifics of any potential U.S. response, but said that Biden was "detailed" and "direct" with the Chinese leader.
It's been more than two years since leaders of the United States and China met face-to-face. This meeting will be virtual, not in person, and comes at a time of high tensions.
The Chinese leader says a "peaceful reunification," rather than one through military force, would benefit both China and Taiwan. Tensions between the two are the highest in decades.
In a fiery speech at Tiananmen Square, Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping vowed to keep an iron grip on Hong Kong and to conquer Tiawan, and warned foreign forces against trying to bully China.
Chinese officials boast their campaign against "evil" has busted over 50,000 supposed criminal organizations, but experts warn it has served another function: consolidating power.
The president-elect can undo many of Trump's tariffs with the stroke of a pen, but he's unlikely to do so now that the tenor of the U.S.-China relationship has changed.
Leaders in the Kremlin and Beijing, as well as in Mexico and Brazil, have conspicuously not congratulated the president-elect, instead waiting for legal challenges to be resolved.
President Trump counts several world leaders as his fans, many of them authoritarians, nationalists or populists. Some may struggle to stay as friendly with the White House if he loses the election.
Ren Zhiqiang made a fortune in real estate and was a member of the country's political elite. But his harsh criticism of the Communist Party and Xi's management of the pandemic led to his downfall.
Xu Zhangrun, a constitutional scholar outspoken in his criticism of President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party, has been particularly vocal about the regime's handling of the coronavirus.
Relations between the economic giants have gone downhill fast since they signed a preliminary trade pact four months ago. The latest tussles over the coronavirus and Hong Kong add to the friction.
Retired businessman Ren Zhiqiang, who criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping, went missing in mid-March. The Communist Party says Ren is under "disciplinary review and supervision and investigation."
The leaders spoke after a virtual G-20 meeting. President Trump called it a "very good conversation," and China state TV said Xi Jinping offered to help the U.S. respond to the spread of the virus.
During months of protests, the territory's chief executive has suffered setbacks in the streets and at the ballot box. But she still enjoys support from China, where she's paying a visit Monday.
President Trump says he stands with democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong. But he stopped short of pledging support for a pro-Hong Kong bill, saying it could complicate trade talks with China.
In a Wednesday evening tweet, the president offered a personal meeting with Xi Jinping in hopes the two could "humanely solve" the unrest over pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The pace of growth in the second quarter was its slowest since 1992. The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the change to a complicated international environment.
President Trump is due to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this weekend, raising hopes the two leaders might call a truce in their trade war. The White House has downplayed expectations of a deal.
Under the Communist Party's ideological reeducation of China's population, humiliation by foreign powers forms an emotional underpinning of the country's national identity.
The two countries are marking the 70th anniversary of their establishment of diplomatic relations. But some experts believe Xi Jinping's trip has another purpose.
The leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday, according to Chinese and North Korean news agencies. The visit comes after stalled negotiations with President Trump.
Rare earths are used in communications, health care and national security. China blocked rare earths to Japan in 2010, but analysts say the threat — regardless of the trade war — may be hollow.
Anne-Marie Brady is a professor at the University of Canterbury, and says she has been the victim of a campaign of intimidation in her home country after publishing research critical of China.
