(AFP) – US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday, after a day of pomp and ceremony that masked deep tensions between the rival superpowers. Numerous US tech titans attended the banquet, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Sam Altman of OpenAI, underscoring that trade and artificial intelligence were high on the agenda for Xi’s visit.
Protesters gathered outside the White House as Trump and his wife Melania welcomed Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan for dinner, chanting slogans including “Xi Jinping is not welcome” and “Free Hong Kong,” AFP reporters witnessed. Earlier in the day, Trump proclaimed that he and Xi had made “tremendous strides” as he laid on pageantry including a military parade, a flyover, and a tour of his new White House helipad. “President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure,” Trump said at the dinner.
But Xi took a more restrained tone, calling for China and the United States to “coexist in peace” even as he laid down Beijing’s red lines on AI, Taiwan, and the Iran war. He continued the theme in his dinner remarks, saying: “China and the United States must act as responsible major countries.”
Trump presented Xi with a gift of a custom-made statue of a bald eagle — the national symbol of the United States. Guests dined on yellow squash veloute, sesame-crusted sea bass, and vanilla cremeux with White House honey ice cream. The 80-year-old US president invited guests to tour the building site of his new $400 million ballroom after the dinner, saying: “In honor of you, you’ll be the first people to step foot on that.”
While business was on the menu at the state dinner, expectations of any major breakthroughs from Xi’s visit are low. One minor success — the extension of a trade truce by two months until January — was less than the two years that the Chinese had been hoping for. Instead, the visit was more about spectacle than substance, with the pomp helping to smooth over the tensions that divide the world’s two top economies.
A formal welcome on the White House South Lawn launched Thursday’s events, before Trump and Xi inspected a military parade on the newly paved-over Rose Garden. American military jets — including a B-2 bomber of the type that bombed Iranian nuclear facilities last year — then staged a flyover as US and Chinese flags flew over the West Wing. As they began talks in the Oval Office, Trump joked that the Chinese had the friendliest press corps. His comment came days after he barred outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House — although they returned on Thursday after a court order.
Trump later walked Xi out to see the new helipad he has built at the White House and took the Chinese leader aboard his Marine One helicopter. “We had a great meeting,” Trump said, as the pair ignored questions on subjects including Iran, Taiwan, fentanyl trafficking, and jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai. But Xi’s comments were often pointed. In his arrival remarks, he said the two countries must ensure there is “no conflict and no confrontation” and said that AI must remain “always under human control.” Trump has, in contrast, played down warnings that AI could threaten humanity.
Later in the Oval, Xi urged Trump to show “prudence” and oppose independence for Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims. The Chinese leader — whose country has reportedly shared intelligence with Tehran — also urged Trump to end the Iran war “through negotiation as soon as possible.” Xi’s visit wraps up on Friday as the presidential couples pay a visit to the US National Archives, home to the Declaration of Independence, which marks its 250th anniversary this year.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
