Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has exchanged congratulations with US President Joe Biden on the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Xi, in his message, said both nations have “weathered the storms and moved forward in general,” which has enhanced the well-being of their peoples, and contributed to world peace, stability and prosperity, a ministry statement said.
Xi called China and the US forming ties “a major event” in the history of bilateral and international relations.
Photo: EPA-EFE
China-US ties have been frosty, but Biden administration officials visited Beijing and met with their counterparts to rebuild communications and trust in the months leading up to a high-stakes summit between Xi and Biden in San Francisco in November last year, deemed an opportunity to cool tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Xi said the summit has pointed out the direction for both nations’ ties, under a future-oriented vision.
“I am willing to work with President Biden to continue to steer and navigate the China-US relationship for the benefit of China and the US and the two peoples, and to promote the cause of world peace and development,” Xi said.
The US is due hold its presidential election in November, in which former US president Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of China, is campaigning against Biden to return for a second term.
Xi also exchanged New Year’s messages with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, and both announced this would be a “friendship year” for both nations, the foreign ministry said separately.
Xi said China is willing to work with North Korea to deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance exchanges and cooperation, promote greater bilateral ties and make new contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.
On New Year’s Eve, the Chinese leader also exchanged greetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This year is the 75th anniversary of China and Russia establishing diplomatic relations.
Russia’s economic reliance on China has grown as the nation becomes increasingly isolated since its invasion of Ukraine.
Xi said China and Russia should “continuously consolidate” and develop ties, along with comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation that would serve both nations’ interests.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
RSS