BEIJING, China – China’s Xi Jinping told President Donald Trump that trade talks were making progress at the start of a two-day summit on Thursday, May 14, but cautioned that disagreement over Taiwan could send relations down a dangerous path and even lead to conflict.
Xi’s remarks on Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by Beijing, came in a closed-door meeting of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies that ran more than two hours, China’s foreign ministry said.
They represented a stark — if not unprecedented — warning during a pomp-filled occasion that otherwise appeared friendly and relaxed, although the US summary of the talks made no mention of Taiwan.
Instead, it focused on the leaders’ shared desire to reopen the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz, effectively closed due to the Iran war, and Xi’s apparent interest in buying American oil to reduce China’s dependence on Middle East supplies.
With Trump’s approval ratings dented by a war with Iran that shows no signs of abating, the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade has taken on added significance as he searches for economic wins.
