Trump Reveals He Plans to Travel to China in the Month of April After Discussion with President Xi
Former President Donald Trump has confirmed that he plans to travel to China's capital in April and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for a diplomatic trip in the coming year, subsequent to a telephone conversation between the two heads of state.
Trump and Xi—who held talks about a month back in South Korea—discussed a series of matters including trade, the situation in Ukraine, fentanyl, and Taiwan, as stated by the president and Beijing's diplomatic corps.
"The U.S.-China ties is very robust!" Trump posted in a social media update.
Official Chinese media published a announcement that indicated both countries should "maintain progress, keep moving forward in the correct path on the foundation of equality, mutual respect and common gain".
Previous Meeting and Commerce Progress
The officials convened in the South Korean city of Busan in October, subsequently they reached a ceasefire on trade taxes. The U.S. government chose to slash a import tax by 50% targeting the movement of opioids.
Trade taxes continue on products from China and average close to half.
"Since then, the China-US relationship has largely sustained a consistent and favorable course, and this is greeted positively by the two countries and the broader international community," the Chinese statement noted.
- America then retracted a potential imposition of full extra duties on Chinese goods, while the Chinese government postponed its plan to enforce its new set of restrictions on rare earths.
Commerce Discussions
Official representative Karoline Leavitt said that the Monday call with Xi—which lasted about an hour—was focused on commerce.
"We are satisfied with what we've observed from the Chinese, and they agree," she said.
Wider Discussions
In addition to discussing commerce, Xi and Trump discussed the issues of the conflict in Ukraine and the Taiwan situation.
Xi stated to Trump that the island's "return to China" is critical for the Chinese outlook for the "world order following wars".
The Chinese government has been involved in a political dispute with the Japanese government, a U.S. friend, over the longstanding "strategic ambiguity" on the control of Taiwan.
In the past few weeks, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that any assault from Beijing on Taiwan could lead to a response from Japan's forces.
Trump, but, did not mention Taiwan in his social media update about the conversation.
US Ambassador to Japan, George Glass, had earlier stated that the US backs Tokyo in the wake of Beijing's "intimidation".
