(AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Monday he had asked China to delay his summit with Xi Jinping by around a month while he deals with the war in the Middle East. Trump had been due to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2 to reset ties and extend a US-China trade truce, but the trip has been upended by the Iran conflict.
“Because of the war I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the China trip. The US leader insisted that he had a “very good relationship” with China and was not trying to play games by postponing the highly anticipated trip to the rival superpower.
“There’s no tricks to it either, it’s not like ‘oh gee, I’m waiting.’ It’s very simple. We got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here,” added Trump. Trump had first suggested the summit could be delayed in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, in which he said a decision could depend on whether China would help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’d like to know before (the summit),” Trump told the FT.
– Paris talks ‘constructive’ –
China and the United States had both earlier Monday hailed what they called “constructive” discussions in Paris over the weekend that were widely seen as setting the stage for the summit. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told journalists the talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng “were constructive and they show the stability of the relationship.”
Also at the talks were US trade envoy Jamieson Greer and Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang. Chinese state media described the talks from Sunday to Monday as “candid, in-depth and constructive.” He said the exchange would inject “greater certainty and stability” into bilateral trade ties and the global economy, according to Xinhua.
Beijing said earlier Monday it was in talks with Washington over the visit by Trump, who has also pressed NATO allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway, critical to oil transportation, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against Tehran.
“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US relations,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference. Lin did not address Trump’s recent pressure on NATO allies and China to assist in Hormuz.
– ‘Board of Trade’ –
Looking ahead, Greer said Monday that officials have also discussed creating a “US-China Board of Trade.” This would help formalize and identify what the United States should be importing from and exporting to China, he added, to ensure “we can focus on areas of mutual benefit.”
The Paris talks follow a turbulent year in ties between the world’s two largest economies since Trump returned to power. The United States announced new trade investigations last week on excess industrial capacity and forced labor respectively, targeting 60 economies including China and other key partners.
The prospect has fueled the possibility of further tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s global duties. Beijing said Monday that it “lodged representations” and urged Washington to “correct its erroneous” trade practices. Li also reiterated on Monday that China firmly opposed such “unilateral” probes.
Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent since the war began, with Hormuz choked off and Iran’s attacks on energy and shipping industry targets in its Gulf neighbors. Experts say that China, which maintains large oil reserves, is better equipped than many other nations to deal with the impact of the war. But with an economy largely buoyed by exports, it has reason to be concerned about the consequences of the situation in the Middle East on trade.
– Danny Kemp and Beiyi Seow
© 2024 AFP
