Xi Jinping Warns Trump Taiwan Differences Could Push China-U.S. Relationship To Dangerous Place

President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for a high-stakes summit that is expected to cover trade, tariffs, Taiwan and Iran, with the visit running through Friday.

“More than a dozen United States business leaders have joined President Donald Trump on his state visit to China, where he is discussing issues including trade, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) with Chinese President Xi Jinping”

Al Jazeera

At a state banquet held in Trump’s honor, Xi said the China-U.S. relationship is “the most important bilateral ties in the world” and that the two countries should be partners rather than rivals.

Al Jazeera

Trump praised Xi as a “friend” and said the relationship was one of the most consequential in world history, while also inviting Xi to visit the U.S. on Sept. 24.

The summit’s opening remarks also centered on Taiwan, with Xi saying it was the most important issue and warning that if not handled well it would push the bilateral relationship to a “dangerous” place.

A White House official said the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Xi expressed interest in buying more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the strait.

As Xi opened the summit, he asked whether the U.S. and China could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” referring to how tensions between a rising and ruling power have historically resulted in war.

Xi also said both sides agreed to build a “constructive strategic and stable relationship between China and the US” as the new framework for bilateral relations.

BBC

The Guardian reported that Xi said he and Trump have kept China-US relations “generally stable,” while also warning that Taiwan “is the most important issue in China-US relations”.

NPR described Xi’s warning to Trump that differences over Taiwan could lead to conflict, quoting Xi: “If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability.”

NPR also quoted Xi saying “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

More than a dozen U.S. business leaders joined Trump on the state visit to China, and Trump introduced them to Xi as “distinguished representatives from the American business community” who “all respect and value China”, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

Al Jazeera named Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon among the executives accompanying Trump, and it also said Nvidia’s Jensen Huang joined the plane at a stopover in Alaska.

Al Jazeera reported that the two leaders are set to discuss extending a one-year truce on tariffs and the export of Chinese rare earth metals, agreements reached during their last meeting in South Korea in October last year.

In a separate thread of the summit, the Guardian said the White House described the meeting as “good” and that Trump and Xi “highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursors into the United States”.

The Guardian also reported that Trump raised a glass to Xi as he concluded his speech at the state banquet with an invitation to the White House on 24 September.