Joe Biden had a more than two-hour call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

The first thoughts I have in writing about that call are that it’s dangerous for the United States to have him on a call for that long with a foreign leader, particularly Xi — that Xi would be able to see the issues, and therefore the weakness of Joe Biden. The one thing you never want to project to the Chinese is weakness.

But that’s just what Biden has been doing. China has been upset about the trip that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has planned to Taiwan. Taiwan is our ally. Biden should tell the Chinese to pound sand. But whatever Biden said on the call, what he got back was a threat from China over Pelosi’s trip. “Those who play with fire will only get burnt,” Xi said during the call, threatening the U.S. if Pelosi went.

“Those who play with fire will only get burnt,” the Chinese president told Biden during a phone call. “Hope the U.S. side can see this clearly.”

China firmly opposes Taiwan independence and the interference of external forces, Xi said.

— Hümeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) July 28, 2022

What Xi should have gotten from Biden was a strong statement back indicating we will not be threatened or told what to do by China, and that Pelosi can go wherever she wants to go. But instead, what the White House released indicated a milquetoast response.

“The call was a part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC and responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align. The call follows the two leaders’ conversation on March 18th and a series of conversations between high-level U.S. and PRC officials,” the White House released in a statement. “The two presidents discussed a range of issues important to the bilateral relationship and other regional and global issues, and tasked their teams to continue following up on today’s conversation, in particular, to address climate change and health security. On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

So what does weakness like this get you?

Now the Chinese are accusing Biden of lying about the call.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden spoke with Xi about genocide and forced labor practices.

In the call with #China President Xi, @POTUS “raised genocide and forced labor practices,” according to @PressSec. pic.twitter.com/hyRVBxVnTp

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 28, 2022

The Chinese Foreign Minister Lijian Zhao is saying that’s “pure lies” and “false information.”

Chinese FM spox accuses WH of lying about Biden bringing up genocide, forced labor on call w/ Xi:

ZHAO: "….pure lies… White House spokesperson said the issues of genocide and forced labor were mentioned in the call last night, that is false information"

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 29, 2022

The Chinese wish us ill and I don’t trust them for a second. But Biden also lies constantly, so we get into the position of having to decide who’s lying here. That’s on Biden because we should be able to trust what he tells us. But not only has the Biden team lied, but they have also even falsified the White House transcripts multiple times. The last time was when it falsely reflected what Joe Biden said in a presser about his conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

We know Biden probably didn’t press Xi on the origins of COVID when we got this lame response from KJP.

WOW: KJP is asked about investigating the origins of a virus "that killed at least a million Americans."

"I'm aware how many Americans that COVID killed, I'm very aware of that. Clearly, the president just dealt with a bout of COVID."

She refuses to answer the question. pic.twitter.com/ff4dh0wNjr

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 28, 2022

The origin of COVID should be at the top of the list — the main thing — in every conversation with the Chinese. But it isn’t.

Now, we even have another threat from the Chinese. They’re saying if Pelosi goes ahead with the trip, that will go over their “red line” and it will be met with “resolute countermeasures.” All “consequences” will be borne by the U.S. side.

New warning from China re: Pelosi visit https://t.co/wBHpWxitKw

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 29, 2022

It sounds like if they invade, they’re going to use the Pelosi trip as an excuse. It also sounds like they have sized Joe up, found him wanting, and may be ready to invade. So great job, Joe Biden, that’s one more fine mess we may now have on our plate. Can we expect any “resolute” response from Biden, or is he just going to take this lying down too?