(AFP) – Donald Trump paid a visit to the Temple of Heaven in the Chinese capital on Thursday, but the US president had a face like thunder. Standing stiff and unsmiling next to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump appeared unmoved by the former imperial temple in Beijing where emperors once prayed for good harvests. The 79-year-old American leader, who rarely misses a chance to talk to reporters, arrived in Beijing the night before after a lengthy 16-hour flight, and was uncharacteristically subdued as he was guided around the temple by Xi.
Asked by reporters including AFP how earlier talks with the Chinese leader had gone, a seemingly tired Trump replied: “Great.” “Great place. Incredible. China’s beautiful,” he added. But he ignored two questions on whether they had discussed Taiwan, after Xi warned that differences between the United States and China over the self-governing island claimed by Beijing could lead to conflict.
Trump had claimed before heading to China for the first time in nearly a decade that Xi would give him a “big, fat hug.” But that did not happen. The atmosphere had been less frosty when Trump arrived at the dominating Great Hall of the People for the talks. The Chinese were careful to appeal to Trump’s love of pomp, greeting him with marching bands, soldiers in lockstep and a cannon salute that echoed through Tiananmen Square. Trump beamed and applauded when hundreds of Chinese schoolchildren in brightly coloured outfits waved flags and flowers and chanted “welcome, welcome, warm welcome.”
The two leaders shook hands warmly, Trump patting Xi’s hand, and exchanged a few words on the red carpet before the cameras. Trump — who has insisted that his personal relationship with Xi will win business deals — praised the Chinese president as a “great friend” and “great leader.”
But times have changed since he last visited Beijing in 2017, and he is now in a more assertive China — one that did not immediately call Trump a friend in return. Behind the scenes, it appeared that Xi had set out an uncompromising stance on Taiwan, according to comments released by state media. Trump had also come looking for China’s help to end the Iran war, and to extend a trade truce with Beijing, but there was no immediate sign of a breakthrough.
Instead, there was virtual silence from Trump, who refrained from commenting on his Truth Social platform that he normally posts on multiple times a day, and from the White House. As Xi warned that the world’s two largest economies could “come into conflict” if Washington mishandles the Taiwan issue, minor skirmishes broke out on the sidelines of their meeting.
At the Great Hall of the People, journalists from both sides jostled each other to get a place before the meeting as US and Chinese officials tried to keep order. Then at the Temple of Heaven, US and Chinese officials held a tense discussion after local security blocked a US Secret Service agent accompanying traveling journalists from entering the complex with his weapon. As temperatures in Beijing creeped to above 30C, Chinese officials refused to allow US reporters, including an AFP journalist, to leave a side room where they were being held and join Trump’s motorcade to his hotel.
Amid raised voices, White House officials and journalists eventually pushed past the Chinese officials to make it to their vans before the US president drove off without them.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
