President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a reportedly “candid and constructive” telephone call for an hour and 45 minutes on Tuesday.

The Details: The “checking-in” conversation marked the pair’s first direct contact since their face-to-face meeting in November. Among other issues, Biden and Xi discussed ongoing military-to-military communication, efforts to address AI-related risks, counter-narcotics cooperation, and climate change. Biden emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Xi spoke of prioritizing stability and not provoking troubles, referring to Taiwan as “the first insurmountable red line in Sino-US relations.” The call came ahead of visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as Taiwan's presidential inauguration in May.

How The Media Covered It: Coverage of the call sometimes varied, particularly in a handful of opinion articles; while an editorial from the New York Post (Opinion rated Right) called Biden “lame,” an editorial from the South China Morning Post (Center bias) was more supportive, saying, “such communication at the top helps manage tensions and to avoid misunderstandings.” News coverage was less divided, often citing “heavy global turbulence” and “significant disagreement on Taiwan.” This summary was developed with the help of AllSides' AI technology.