CHINESE President XI Jinping told Joe Biden that Taiwan “is at the very core of China’s interests” at the leaders’ summit in Bali today.

The pair met on the eve of the G20 meeting on the Indonesian island.

Relations between the two countries have grown more strained under successive US administrations as Washington seeks to curtail China’s rise as a “peer competitor”.

Mr Xi called on the US president to “chart the right course” and “elevate the relationship” between China and the US. 

He stressed that “the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations.”

Mr Biden said the US continued to support the longstanding “One China” policy, which recognises the government in Beijing as government of all China including Taiwan, while allowing for informal relations and defence ties with Taipei.

The US has adopted a posture of “strategic ambiguity” over whether it would respond militarily if China seeks to reunite with Taiwan by force. 

Mr Biden said that when it comes to China the US would “compete vigorously, but I’m not looking for conflict.” 

He added: “I absolutely believe there need not be a new cold war” with China.

The two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine and “reaffirmed our shared belief” that the threat or the use of nuclear weapons is “totally unacceptable.” 

“As the leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility, in my view, to show that China and the United States can manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict, and to find ways to work together on urgent global issues that require our mutual co-operation,” Mr Biden said to open the meeting.

But the White House recently blocked exports of advanced computer chips to China — a move designed to disrupt Chinese high-tech manufacturing.

Mr Xi’s government said he condemned such moves, saying, “Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and undermine international trade rules.”