(May 14): Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed Donald Trump on the issue of Taiwan and warned of a potential conflict if mismanaged, in blunt remarks that punctured an otherwise cordial start to the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nearly a decade.
“If mishandled, the two nations will experience collision or even clashes, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly dangerous situation,” Xi said in their first meeting on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People. China’s readout of Xi’s remarks on Taiwan appeared to come before his meeting with Trump had wrapped, thrusting the issue of the self-ruled island into the spotlight.
Taiwan was only one of a number of issues that have strained US-China ties in recent weeks. China has opposed a pending US arms sale package to the island democracy that Beijing considers its own territory, and sought the US to clarify that Washington doesn’t support Taiwanese independence.
The remarks came after the leaders struck an optimistic tone at the start of their highly anticipated summit, where they emphasised possibilities for collaboration over divisions.
“We should be partners, not rivals,” Xi said in his opening remarks. “We should help each other succeed and prosper together and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era.”
The two leaders met on Thursday morning at the Great Hall of the People following an elaborate welcome ceremony during the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nearly a decade. The pageantry included honour guards, a formal procession, and dozens of children waving flags and cheering enthusiastically before the delegation entered discussions.
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Speaking after Xi, Trump praised his reception and called the Chinese president a “great leader”. He acknowledged difficulties in the relationship but expressed hope for a “fantastic future” for the world’s two largest economies.
“The relationship between China and the US is going to be better than ever before,” Trump said.
The two days of meetings will show whether they can maintain a recent détente complicated by the US-Israeli war against Iran, and what concessions either side is willing to make.
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The US president highlighted the business delegation joining his trip that includes Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Tesla’s Elon Musk. The US corporate leaders are “here today to pay respects to you and to China, and they look forward to trade and doing business, and it’s going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf”, he said.
As Trump and Xi met, Apple’s Tim Cook gave reporters a thumbs up when asked how the summit was progressing.
At the welcome ceremony, Xi and Trump walked together and stopped to greet top Chinese officials, starting with Cai Qi, Xi’s chief of staff. Next up was the US delegation, including US Ambassador to China David Perdue, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have stabilised since the two presidents met last October in Busan, South Korea. But tensions have remained, including over China’s dominance over the supply of rare earths and American export controls that limit the ability of Chinese companies to access cutting-edge chips.
Ahead of the meeting, Rubio said the relationship with China was “both our top political challenge, geopolitically, and it’s also the most important relationship for us to manage”.
“It’s a big, powerful country. It’s going to continue to grow, but we’re going to have interests of ours that are going to be in conflict with interests of theirs,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News airing shortly ahead of the meeting.
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While specific outcomes from the discussions likely won’t become clear until the summit concludes, topics on the agenda are expected to include trade, tariffs, Taiwan and Iran. Trump said his first priority would be asking Xi to roll back trade barriers.
“I will be asking President Xi, a leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level,” the US leader wrote in a social media post.
The US and China are weighing a potential framework whereby each country identifies some US$30 billion ($38.18 billion) in goods on which tariffs could be eased without threatening national security interests, Reuters reported, citing four unnamed people familiar with the Trump administration’s objectives. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Rubio also indicated in the Fox News interview that the US would push China to help conclude the war in Iran, as negotiations on a peace deal continue to bedevil the White House.
“We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they are doing now in the Persian Gulf,” Rubio said, adding he believed it is in China’s “interest to resolve this” due to Asia’s heavy energy dependence on the region, the possibility Chinese ships could continue to be targeted, and the risk that the conflict could further weigh on the global economy.
The two leaders have met at least six times over the past decade — typically on the sidelines of major multilateral summits — although they have also visited each other’s nations.
While in Beijing, Trump will take part in a state banquet with Xi Thursday evening. On Friday, he will meet with the Chinese leader again for a photo session, followed by a tea gathering and then lunch, before departing from Beijing in the afternoon.
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