Trump and Xi exchange praise at meeting but talk past each other on Iran, Taiwan

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The leaders of the U.S. and China heaped praise on each other Thursday after a hotly anticipated summit in Beijing, even as they appeared to talk past each other on the issues of Taiwan and Iran.

Speaking at a state banquet, U.S. President Donald Trump said his time in the Chinese capital had been “extremely positive and productive” and hailed ties between the two nations as “very special.” In a statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said a new “constructive strategic and stable relationship” had been forged during Thursday’s meetings.

There was scant evidence of tangible gains from that new relationship, though progress is expected on U.S. agricultural products and aircraft, Chinese rare earths, and in tackling the trafficking of fentanyl precursors.

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For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “the China-U.S. relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world.”

“We must make it work and never mess it up,” he added. “Both China and the United States stand to gain from co-operation and lose from confrontation. Our two countries should be partners rather than rivals.”

While the two leaders were keen to emphasize areas of co-operation and agreement in Thursday’s talks, and Mr. Trump invited Mr. Xi to visit him in Washington in September, readouts released by both governments were stark in how they appeared to summarize different meetings, both focusing on topics entirely ignored by the other.

A Chinese readout, released while Mr. Xi was still speaking to Mr. Trump, depicted China’s leader sternly warning his American counterpart about the risks of U.S. support for Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy which China claims and has threatened to annex by force.

Taiwan was the “most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” and if handled properly, “the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability,” Mr. Xi said in the readout. “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

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Beijing had been expected to pressure Washington to scale back, delay or even cancel a planned arms sale to Taipei, as the Taiwanese government seeks to build up its military in response both to Chinese aggression and pressure from the White House to bear more of the burden for its own defence.

Reacting to Mr. Xi’s comments, Michelle Lee, a spokeswoman for Taiwan’s cabinet, said Thursday, “China’s military threat is the sole source of insecurity in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”

In turn, the White House readout, published hours later, focused on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. China is a key ally of Tehran and has supported the continuing Pakistani-led mediation efforts, even as Washington has called on Beijing to do more to pressure Iran to give in to U.S. demands, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz.

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The White House statement said Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump had agreed the vital waterway “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,” it added. “Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

China’s summary of discussions beyond trade and Taiwan only mentioned that Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump “exchanged views on major international and regional issues such as the situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula.”

It quoted Mr. Trump as saying “the U.S. and China are the most important and powerful countries in the world,” and “U.S.-China co-operation can accomplish many great and beneficial things for both countries and the world.”

That Mr. Trump did not appear to make any concession, at least publicly on the issue of Taiwan, will come as a relief to Taipei and the island’s supporters in Washington, many of whom had voiced concern in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s summit.

Liang Wen-chieh, a senior Taiwanese official, said Taipei was in “close communication with the American side,” and there had been “no surprising information so far.”

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“If maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is truly the greatest common ground between China and the United States, then the Chinese Communist Party should restrain its own behaviour of military intimidation,” he added.

China has ramped up pressure against Taiwan in recent years, blocking the island from participating in international events, picking off its few remaining diplomatic allies, and staging large-scale war games in the air and water around it.

Even as the U.S. military has been stretched by the war in Iran and Washington has drawn down on forces in Asia as a result, most analysts do not believe China is ready to stage any invasion of Taiwan, in part because of continuing purges in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

A recent assessment by the U.S. intelligence community said fears Beijing might seek to annex Taiwan as early as 2027 were overstated, noting, “China, despite its threat to use force to compel unification if necessary and to ⁠counter what it sees as a U.S. attempt to use Taiwan to undermine China’s rise, prefers to achieve unification without the use of force, if ​possible.”

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