Biden, Xi hold talks amid Taiwan row

• U.S. and China held a phone meeting amid rising tensions, most recently on the possible visit of the U.S. House Speaker to Taiwan.

Highlights of talk

• The call was their first since March — and the fifth since Mr. Biden took office — and came amid fears of a new Taiwan crisis, adding to a long list of tensions on matters ranging from trade to the South China Sea.
• China had stepped up its warnings and said the U.S. would bear all the consequences if the visit, which would mark the most high-level engagement between the U.S. and Taiwan since 1997, went ahead.
• Observers pinned their hopes on the call as providing a last possible off-ramp. Mr. Biden is expected to make the case that the U.S. cannot veto a visit by a House Speaker representing a different branch of government.
• Mr. Xi, for his part, might demand a reiteration from Mr. Biden of his government’s commitment to its “One China” policy.