(AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to travel to China in a bit over one month, after postponing the trip slated for the end of March due to his war on Iran. “We have a very good working relationship with China, so we’re making it in about five or six weeks,” Trump told reporters in the White House.
Trump sought to play down the significance of the delay and said he had a strong relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We’re working with China. They were fine with it,” Trump said of the delay. “I look forward to seeing President Xi; he looks forward to seeing me, I think.”
Trump said that China “has become, economically for us, very good, very good,” in what he called a shift for the United States. Trump has repeatedly hailed his trade negotiations with China, saying that a better relationship can benefit the United States. It marks a contrast with Trump’s tone before returning to office, in which he cast China as a major adversary and vowed to focus the United States on countering the Asian power.
Trump on February 28 launched a war on Iran alongside Israel, despite the president’s earlier criticism of US intervention in the Middle East. Trump suggested earlier that his trip, which was supposed to run from March 31-April 2, would depend on whether China helped Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime waterway that has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said earlier Tuesday that it noted that the United States has “has publicly clarified these false reports.” The trip, Lin said, “has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz.”
© 2024 AFP
