How Biden's farewell jab at Xi over Taiwan traveled across the Pacific

 

 How Biden's farewell jab at Xi over Taiwan traveled across the Pacific

When U.S. President Joe Biden bid farewell to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Filoli estate in California earlier this month, both leaders were all smiles, neither betraying that Biden had just delivered a stern warning to Xi about interfering in Taiwan's elections.
 
"I made it clear: I didn't expect any interference, any at all," Biden later told reporters, adding that the discussion on Taiwan's presidential election, scheduled in January, came just as the Chinese leader was leaving.
 
Biden's remark made a big splash within Taiwan's political inner circle, according to a source familiar with U.S.-China and China-Taiwan relations.
 
Nine days after Xi and Biden met, an alliance between Taiwan's two main opposition parties -- each promising to forge better ties with China -- collapsed as the parties were unable to stop wrangling over who would be their unified presidential candidate.
 
Earlier, on Nov. 15, the parties' announcement that they had agreed to join forces attracted much attention, at least partly because it came only hours before Xi and Biden were to start their summit in California.