Xi and Trump to meet face to face
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping will meet Donald Trump next Thursday and Friday at the US leader’s Florida golf resort, the first face-to-face meeting between the heads of the world’s two biggest economies.
The visit, which will take place at Trump’s luxury Mar-a-Lago club, follows a rocky start to US-China relations under the billionaire politician, who has repeatedly blasted Beijing for its trade policies.
The meeting, confirmed by both countries yesterday, could be crucial in setting the tone of the relationship between the two countries in coming years.
“Xi’s visit is of great historical significance to the development of China-US ties, as the two heads of state will chart the direction of the relationship from the top level, sending a positive signal to the world,” said Su Ge, head of the China Institute of International Studies.
“Cooperation is the only way forward, and the two countries’ common interests far outweigh their differences,” Su added.
The White House confirmed the meeting in a statement, saying that the leaders will “discuss global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual concern.” Trump and his wife Melania will also host a dinner for Xi and China’s first lady Peng Liyuan, it said.
Just weeks ago the summit seemed a distant possibility after Trump infuriated Beijing with suggestions he might break from the “One China” policy.
However, in a conciliatory phone call in mid-February, the US president walked back controversial comments on Taiwan, creating an opening for Washington and Beijing to discuss a meeting.
Details of the meeting were reportedly hammered out during subsequent visits by China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi to Washington and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Beijing.
Xi would be the second world leader since Trump took office to visit Mar-a-Lago.
The resort’s casual nature will allow Trump to receive the Chinese leader without the full pomp and circumstance of a state visit. Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the estate in February in a meeting billed as an opportunity to bond over rounds of golf in an environment conducive to building the kind of personal relationships the US president is said to view as important.
Xi, however, is unlikely to join Trump on the links. China’s Communist Party frowns on golf as a luxury and has taken steps to crack down on courses in China, which it associates with corruption.
Diplomatic sources in Beijing said the meetings will focus on giving the leaders an opportunity to get to know each other, reserving tough issues for future talks.
“The summit could well be a peaceful combination of a strategic kumbaya and economic gift giving, before storms erupt later over trade, regional hotspots, and human resources-issues,” according to Douglas Paal, Asia director at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“The substantive focus of that meeting, if any, and of the US-China relationship going forward, is likely to revolve around the issues the Trump administration has signalled it has a strong interest in — trade, North Korea, South China Sea, and Taiwan policy,” said Henry Levine, a senior adviser to the Albright Stonebridge Group.
Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese goods and pledged during his election campaign to label China a currency manipulator.
Before arriving in the US, President Xi will pay a state visit to Finland, his first to the European Union this year.
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