President Donald Trump today promised his counterpart Xi Jinping a «wonderful future» between the United States and China at the start of a global stakes summit, going on the «offensive» with conciliatory statements despite multiple tensions between the two countries.
Despite the pompous reception that Trump received for this official visit, his host nevertheless maintained a more conventional and stern tone, invoking Thucydides to reiterate that China and the United States should be ’partners, not rivals’.
The issues that cause tensions between the two sides abound: trade relations, war with Iran, Taiwan, access to rare earths and semiconductors, artificial intelligence... all issues that cause conflicts with international implications.
President Xi warned his US counterpart that China and the United States could come to «conflict» if Washington mishandles the Taiwan issue.
«The Taiwan issue is the most important issue in Sino-American relations. If it is properly addressed, relations between the two countries (China and the US) can remain stable overall. If it is handled badly, the two countries will confront each other, even clash,» Xi said, using a Mandarin word that does not necessarily mean military conflict.
China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it failed to unify with the rest of its territory after the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. It calls for a peaceful solution, but reserves what it considers its right to resort to military force.
- Red carpet -
China opposes any action that would harm reunification, which it considers non-negotiable and inevitable, and opposes the delivery of US arms to the island.
The US policy towards Taiwan is based on a strong military support to the island, without fully recognising it or openly supporting its independence.
«The US side has repeated many times its clear and firm support for Taiwan,» reacted Taiwanese government spokeswoman Michelle Lee after the meeting.
Apart from the exceptional nature of the visit, the first by a US president since Trump's in 2017, the summit is widely presented as an opportunity for the two parties to maintain some stability between the two major global economic powers and to avoid exacerbating existing crises.
Xi rolled out the red carpet for Donald Trump on his arrival at the monumental People's Palace, the centre of power in the heart of the capital next to the vast Tiananmen Square, which was draped in the colours of China and the United States.
After inspecting a military vehicle to the sound of gunfire and then greeting a crowd of children carrying flowers and flags of both countries shouting «welcome, welcome, warm welcome!», Xi and Trump quickly began to address the issues causing tensions.
- «Stability» -
Before closing the doors to reporters, Trump, who believes he does well in personal relationships between powerful people and emphasizes his closeness to Xi, said he was «honored to be next to» the Chinese leader and «honored to be his friend.».
«Relations between China and the United States will be better than ever,» he said. «We will have a wonderful future together,» he added.
«I have so much respect for China, for the work you have done. You are a great leader, I tell everyone,» he added.
Trump did not specifically address any of the fights of the moment, focusing on the jobs he hopes the many business leaders accompanying him will do.
High on the list of Washington's aspirations are, for example, agreements in the agricultural sector and perhaps the ratification of a massive order of airplanes to Boeing.
Trump is also hoping for a promise of Chinese investment in the United States.
Beijing insisted, ahead of the summit, on the search for «stability».
The two superpowers engaged in a savage trade war in 2025 with a planetary impact, imposing outrageous customs tariffs and multiple restrictions, immediately after Donald Trump's return to the White House.
- «No rivals» -
Xi and Trump concluded a ceasefire in October, the continuation of which is expected to be among the issues to be discussed at the summit.
Since October, China has been directly feeling the impact of Trump's other policies, in Venezuela and even more so in Iran.
«We ought to be partners, not adversaries,» Xi told Trump.
«Can we join forces to face global challenges and bring greater stability to the world?» he asked, citing the lessons of Thucydides, who wrote about the danger of war when an emerging power comes into conflict with a dominant power.
Xi Jinping did not make the kind of public pronouncements to which he is not accustomed, although Donald Trump had said in mid-April that the Chinese president would give him a «big hug» in Beijing.
Xi hosted a dinner in Trump's honor last Thursday night. Today they will have tea together and then have lunch together.
According to the US administration, Trump wants to put pressure on China, Iran's primary strategic and economic partner - it is the main importer of Iran's oil - to use its influence to find a way out of the Gulf crisis.
Trump and Xi discussed the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and the situation on the Korean peninsula
Chinese President Xi Jinping today promised from Beijing to a group of US business chiefs accompanying Donald Trump that his country's door to the world «will continue to open wider and wider», the state-run Chinese news agency New China News Agency (Xinhua) reported.
«American businesses are deeply involved in China's reform and opening up, and both parties benefit from this. China's door will continue to open wider and wider. China is glad that the United States is strengthening its mutually beneficial cooperation with it and is confident that American businesses will have even better prospects in China,’ Xi said, according to New China.
President Xi also hailed a «new positioning» of bilateral relations with the United States after the summit with Trump, Chinese state-run CCTV reported.
Xi said the two leaders agreed that building a constructive, strategically stable relationship would guide bilateral relations in the next three years and beyond, CCTV reported.
In addition, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that the two presidents discussed today the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean peninsula.
«The two heads of state exchanged views on major international and regional issues, especially the situation in the Middle East, the crisis in Ukraine and the Korean peninsula,» the Chinese ministry said without further details.
