Donald Trump Announces He Is Set to Go to China in April After Phone Conversation with President Xi
Leader Donald Trump has stated that he plans to go to Beijing in April and extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping for a diplomatic trip later next year, after a telephone conversation between the two heads of state.
Trump and Xi—who held talks nearly a month ago in the Republic of Korea—talked about a variety of topics including economic relations, the situation in Ukraine, synthetic drugs, and the Taiwan issue, per the former president and China's foreign ministry.
"Bilateral relations is extremely strong!" Trump wrote in a online message.
China's state news agency published a statement that noted both states should "keep up the momentum, keep moving forward in the correct path on the principle of fairness, respect and common gain".
Earlier Talks and Economic Agreements
The leaders convened in the South Korean city of Busan in last October, subsequently they settled on a pause on trade taxes. The US opted to cut a 20% tariff by 50% aimed at the flow of opioids.
Duties stay on imports and average nearly 50 percent.
"Afterwards, the bilateral relations has generally maintained a stable and upward path, and this is greeted positively by the both nations and the international community at large," the Chinese statement noted.
- America then pulled back a warning of full extra duties on products, while Beijing postponed its plan to enforce its recent phase of restrictions on rare earths.
Commerce Discussions
Official representative Karoline Leavitt stated that the Monday call with Xi—which lasted about an hour—was focused on economic issues.
"We are pleased with what we've witnessed from the China, and they share that sentiment," she said.
Wider Discussions
Along with talking about economic matters, Xi and Trump raised the issues of the Ukraine war and the Taiwan situation.
Xi told Trump that the island's "reunification with China" is essential for China's vision for the "world order following wars".
China has been involved in a political dispute with Tokyo, a US ally, over the longstanding "uncertain policy" on the control of Taiwan.
In the past few weeks, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi commented that a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan could lead to a Japanese military response.
Trump, but, did not refer to the Taiwan issue in his social media update about the conversation.
The U.S. representative in Japan, George Glass, had earlier stated that the United States backs Tokyo in the context of Beijing's "intimidation".