Joe Biden says China not in a position to invade Taiwan; here’s why

US President Joe Biden engaged in talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit held in New Delhi. This marks the most senior-level interaction between the US and China in nearly 10 months. Li Qiang stood in for President Xi Jinping, whose absence at the summit raised eyebrows.

The White House confirmed that the leaders' conversation was not confrontational and covered stability and issues in the Southern Hemisphere. 

While the meeting comes amidst fraught relations, strained further by an incident involving a suspected Chinese spy balloon over US territory, it provided an opportunity for both nations to discuss critical matters.

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Biden highlighted China's economic issues, pointing to a sluggish real estate sector and high levels of youth unemployment. These factors, according to Biden, hamper China's capacity to carry out a military operation against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.

While calling China's economic situation a "crisis," Biden cited issues in the real estate sector and high youth unemployment.

"One of the major economic tenets of his plan isn't working at all right now," Reuters quoted Biden as saying of Xi, without elaborating. "I'm not happy for that, but it's not working."

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"I don't think this is going to cause China to invade Taiwan. As a matter of fact, the opposite, probably doesn't have the same capacity that it had before," he added.

Meanwhile, Premier Li remains hopeful that China will achieve its projected growth rate of 5% in 2023, although some financial analysts are sceptical due to the ongoing property slump and declining consumer spending in the country.

As Biden gears up for the 2024 re-election campaign, economic issues have taken centre stage, especially inflation. The US has experienced a modest 2.1% annual growth rate in the past quarter, drawing criticism as central banks have substantially hiked interest rates to manage inflation.

(With Reuters inputs)