Biden and Varadkar discussed ‘challenges posed by China’ and other issues, say US officials

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and US president Joe Biden discussed “the challenges posed by China” among other issues at their private talks last Thursday, US officials have said.

The headings for the talks were contained in an official readout released by the White House.

However, neither Mr Varadkar’s office nor the White House provided details subsequently on what they had discussed regarding China.

China had not been mentioned by the US side in earlier briefings as a specific topic for discussion between the president and the Taoiseach at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park on Thursday.

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The White House had indicated beforehand that the talks between Mr Biden and Mr Varadkar would focus largely on Northern Ireland and the conflict in Ukraine.

The official readout of the Biden/Varadkar talks released by the White House after the meeting said:

“They discussed US-Irish co-operation on a range of global issues, including food security, the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China, and our continued support for Ukraine. The leaders also marked the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and reaffirmed their steadfast support for preserving and expanding its peace dividend.”

A spokesman for Mr Varadkar said the talks included a discussion on the importance of multilateralism, standing up to Russia on Ukraine, strengthening democracy and boosting measures to deal with climate change across the planet.

Asked about the reference to China in the US release about the talks, Mr Varadkar’s spokesman did not comment any further.

The White House told The Irish Times that it did not have anything further to add to the readout released following the meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Varadkar.

There have been growing tensions in recent times between Washington and Beijing over issues such as Taiwan and the Chinese balloon discovered over US air space which the White House maintained had been spying on sensitive military installations.

The Biden administration recently told TikTok that it wanted the app’s Chinese owners to sell the app or face a possible ban in the United States.

Beijing has said it would oppose such a sale.