Xi Jinping Warns Trump Taiwan Could Push U.S.-China Ties Into Thucydides Trap

U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for a U.S.-China summit that runs through Friday, with the leaders discussing trade, Taiwan and other differences in the U.S.-China relationship.

“What to know as Trump visits Xi in China US President Donald Trump is in Beijing on the first trip to China by an American leader since in his own previous visit, during his first term in 2017”

BBC

NewsNation said the talks were held in Beijing and that few breakthroughs were expected on divisive issues ranging from Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan, while CNBC said the summit was expected to cover trade, tariffs, Taiwan and Iran and runs through Friday.

BBC

In Xi’s opening remarks, he asked whether the two countries could avoid the “Thucydides Trap” and create a new paradigm of major country relations, and he warned that if Taiwan is not handled properly it would push the relationship to a “dangerous” place.

CNBC also said Xi told Trump that Chinese-U.S. relations were “the most important bilateral ties in the world” and that the countries should be partners rather than rivals, while NewsNation reported Xi told Trump that if Taiwan is handled well, U.S.-China relations “will enjoy overall stability.”

In the closed-door session described by Xinhua, Xi told Trump that if the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, the United States and China risk “conflicts and even armed confrontations, placing the entire relationship in serious jeopardy,” according to Tovima.

Tovima contrasted that private warning with the public opening remarks at the Great Hall of the People, where Trump praised Xi as “you are a great leader” and said “it is an honor to be your friend.”

CNBC

Reuters’ framing in CNBC’s account said Xi emphasized “mutual respect” as key to stable ties, while CNBC reported that Trump described Xi as a “friend” and said the relationship had an opportunity to “create a future of greater prosperity, cooperation and happiness.”

CNBC also reported that a White House official said the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy, and that Xi expressed interest in buying more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future.

The summit’s immediate schedule included Trump visiting the Temple of Heaven with Xi in the afternoon and attending a state banquet in the evening, while CNBC said the two leaders were set to have multiple discussions through midday Friday.

“Economy 2025, the zero year of the Thucydides Trap and in which the free market's mask has fallen It was the rise of Athens and the fear it provoked in Sparta that made war inevitable, Thucydides wrote, the Greek historian who five centuries before Christ wrote History of the Peloponnesian War”

El Salto

NewsNation said Trump was expected to leave just after midday Friday after a final private meeting with Xi, and it described the leaders’ two-day effort to set stability in the relationship as the main goal.

CNBC reported that Xi was expected to reciprocate Trump’s trip with a visit to the U.S., and it added that the two leaders could also meet alongside APEC and G20 events in China and the U.S. late in the year.

In the background of the summit, CNBC quoted Scott Kennedy saying he expects the trade truce Trump and Xi reached at their meeting in South Korea last fall to become a formal agreement, and it also said Kennedy described the welcoming ceremony and initial remarks as highlighting how consequential the relationship is for the world.