President Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday for the first time since taking office. The call came on the same day that Biden visited the Pentagon, which has just launched a new military task force focused on China.

President Joe Biden: “We need to take on the dangers and opportunities of emerging technologies, enhance our capabilities in cyberspace, ensure that we are positioned to lead a new era of competition, from the deep sea to outer space. And we need to meet the growing challenges posed by China to keep peace and defend our interests in the Indo-Pacific and globally.”

Earlier this week, China criticized the Biden administration for deploying two aircraft carriers to the disputed South China Sea to carry out military drills.