Donald Trump was due in Beijing Wednesday on the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, as he seeks to ramp up trade despite potential friction over Taiwan and Iran.
Leaving Washington on Tuesday on a trip that was delayed by his war, Trump said he expected a “long talk” with counterpart Xi Jinping about Iran, which relies on China as the top customer for its US-sanctioned oil.
But he also played down disagreements on Iran, saying that Xi has been “relatively good, to be honest with you”.
“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other. We’ll win it peacefully or otherwise,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House.
This week’s trip the first since Trump visited in 2017 will involve high-stakes talks with Xi on Thursday and Friday, during a packed itinerary that includes a state banquet and tea reception.
Trump said Monday that he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China a departure from historic US insistence that it will not consult Beijing on its support to the island.
China’s controls on rare earth exports and the countries’ raucous trade relationship are among the topics expected to be taken up by the heads of the world’s top two economies.
The tense buildup to the superpower summit was already visible Tuesday on the streets of Beijing, with police monitoring major intersections and checking the ID cards of passengers on the metro, AFP journalists saw.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” said Wen Wen, a 24-year-old woman travelling from the eastern city of Nanjing, when asked by AFP about Trump’s visit.
“Some progress will certainly be made,” she said, noting that she hopes China and the United States can ensure “lasting peace” despite “recent instability in the global situation”.
Trade ties between Beijing and Washington have been fraught in recent years. The two sides are currently maintaining a one-year truce in their tariff war reached at Trump and Xi’s last meeting in South Korea in October.
China’s major surplus in trade with the United States has long irked Trump, who slapped tariffs on the country’s goods during his first term in office.
Trump will be accompanied in China by a large group of top US business executives, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, the White House has said.
The highly anticipated summit comes at an uncertain time for China’s economy, which has struggled in recent years with sluggish domestic spending and a protracted debt crisis in the once-booming property sector.
– ‘Responsibilities as major powers’ –
For Li Jiahao, 30, who manages a Beijing karaoke bar, the summit will not necessarily solve all problems in China-US relations though he is hoping for “positive results”.
“Coming here and actually resolving the issues are two different things,” he told AFP.
“China and the United States both have responsibilities as major powers,” he said, adding that “only through friendship can we achieve mutual development and become stronger”.
The war in Iran launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 has presented new challenges in the already-complicated relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned 12 individuals and entities including several based in Hong Kong it said facilitated sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.
Asked about the latest moves on Tuesday, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for Beijing’s foreign ministry, said that “China firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions”.
Trump’s trip will be closely scrutinised in Taiwan for any sign of weakening US support.
Trump insisted Monday that his personal relationship with Xi would prevent a Chinese invasion of the island.
“I think we’ll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want that to happen,” he said.
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Trump heads to China for superpower summit
