Xi Jinping lands in Washington with Trump waiting on the tarmac

Washington: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, with US President Donald Trump waiting to welcome his counterpart on the tarmac instead of waiting for him to drive to the White House.

Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the US president is going to honour China’s leader in his first state visit to the US capital in more than a decade.

Trump and wife Melania Trump were at the base to participate in an arrival ceremony for Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that’s expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump’s visit to China in May.

But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan.

Beyond using the visit to try to keep “strategic stability” between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the diplomatic stops to show off for Xi.

He has lavished praise on Xi as a “great leader” and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues.

Republican senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, criticised the “lavish welcome”, and told the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party”.

Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as “the purposes of China’s massive military build-up, or about China’s clear support for Iran”. He said that “during every minute of dialogue”, Trump should keep in mind that “his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbours and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US and China had to interact at the highest levels because they were “the two largest economies in the world” and “probably the two most powerful militaries in the world”.

“The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible. It’s outrageous. We have to,” Rubio said in New York on Wednesday.

Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, and told reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new “work of art” helicopter landing pad would be ready for the Chinese leader’s visit, although he bemoaned his massive White House ballroom would not.

Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry he was met with in China this year. In May, Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump but Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was there instead.

But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. A military honour guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” also were present.

‘He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect.’

US first lady Melania Trump

The children wore white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the traditional paint colours of the US presidential plane.

First lady Melania Trump said earlier on Wednesday that her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because “they have a great relationship”.

“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends.

Trump’s airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday (US time) by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops.

Before the black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.

On Friday, Xi and Peng will return to the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.