The American and Chinese presidents talked Iran, Taiwan, and trade, but found little to agree on
US President Donald Trump’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was heavy on pomp, praise, and promises. But what did both leaders walk away with after the superpower summit in Beijing?
Trump left Beijing on Friday, two days after becoming the first US president to visit the Chinese capital in almost a decade. The trip took place amid two paused conflicts – Trump’s trade war with Beijing and his real war against Iran – which directly affect China, and although both leaders hailed positive developments in their relationship, differing statements from the two sides suggest that these issues and others remain unresolved.
Xi gives Trump a royal welcome
From the military honors and red carpet that greeted Trump on Wednesday, to the garden tour of Xi’s Zhongnanhai compound on Friday morning, the Chinese president was a gracious host throughout. At a lavish banquet on Thursday, Xi declared that “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.”
Trump returned the favor, telling Xi that the welcome ceremony was “an honor like few I’ve ever seen before,” and that the roses in the gardens of Zhongnanhai were “the most beautiful roses anyone has ever seen.” A lifelong teetotaler, Trump went as far as taking a sip of wine when Xi proposed a toast at the banquet.
Ahead of bilateral talks on Friday, Trump claimed that he and Xi had “settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle, and the relationship is a very strong one.”
Did Trump and Xi reach breakthrough on Taiwan?
Amid the optics and pageantry, few observers expected any progress on Taiwan – the longest-running unresolved issue between Washington and Beijing. Xi maintains that Taiwan’s reunification with the Chinese mainland is “inevitable,” while the US has followed a policy of strategic ambiguity since the 1970s. It accepts but does not endorse Beijing’s claim to the island.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
