The most remarkable aspect of President Donald Trump’s trip to China is just how unremarkable it’s proven to be.Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn’t skimped on the pomp for his two-day bilateral summit with Trump, but, halfway through, the proceedings have hardly deviated from the official guidance and predictions laid out by policy experts.Both sides have focused on easily anticipated top priorities. For Trump, that’s improving the U.S. trade standing with Beijing and ensuring that China, at the very least, doesn’t intervene on Iran‘s behalf to further slow Trump’s chosen path for ending the conflict in the Middle East. Xi similarly focused on trade but clearly viewed Taiwan as his top foreign policy priority. Both nations provided readouts indicating to their respective populaces that the leaders had sufficiently discussed the topline issues.
“President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi of China. The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between our two countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into our industries. Leaders from many of the United States’ largest companies joined a portion of the meeting,” the White House wrote on Thursday. “The Presidents also highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursors into the United States, as well as increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products. The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy. President Xi also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use, and he expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future. Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
