President Trump wrapped up his historic visit to Beijing on Friday, saying he’s made important progress to stabilize U.S.-China relations, which only a few years ago were at the lowest level in decades.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle, and the relationship is a very strong one,” Mr. Trump said at the start of bilateral talks Friday, but offered few details on what was settled.
The leaders discussed a wide range of thorny issues, ranging from the Iran war, China’s desire to annex Taiwan and trade during Mr. Trump’s two-day visit to Beijing.
But neither side announced breakthroughs.
Mr. Trump told reporters that China had agreed to buy 200 planes from Boeing, but neither the White House nor Beijing confirmed the deal.
When asked about the Boeing sale, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun declined to confirm, instead saying that both countries can promote “development and revitalization by strengthening cooperation.”
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Given how badly relations between Washington and Beijing had been under President Biden, the fact that both leaders hailed the visit as positive and spoke of each other fondly could be cheered as a victory. Especially as conflicts rage in Europe and the Middle East.
“The summit produced modest, marketable and managed outcomes, which is about all the U.S.-China relationship can bear right now,” said Craig Singleton, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“The summit projected modest, marketable and managed outcomes, which is about all the U.S.-China relationship can bear right now,” he said.
Still, it remained unclear how close the two superpowers are to setting up a U.S.-China Board of Trade, which would oversee economic exchanges between the two countries for goods not related to national security.
On Iran, Mr. Trump said the two leaders “feel very similar” and noted that both countries want to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil travels. It has been effectively closed by Iran, sending gas prices soaring.
Following Mr. Xi’s stark warning about a potential conflict between the two nations over Taiwan, Mr. Trump said that he had not determined whether to move forward with a major U.S. arms sale to the island nation.
SEE ALSO: Trump and Xi concur on need to reopen Strait of Hormuz, White House says
“I will make a determination,” he told reporters.
Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump that any mishandling of Taiwan could lead to “clashes and even conflicts” between Washington and Beijing. China has long claimed ownership of Taiwan and has talked about taking it back by force.
“I heard him out,” Mr. Trump said. “I didn’t make a comment.”
Both sides praised the meeting as productive. Mr. Trump invited his Chinese counterpart to visit the White House on Sept. 24.
“The relationship is a very strong one and we’ve done some really wonderful things,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Xi called the meeting “historic” and “landmark.” He said they “reached important common understandings on maintaining stable economic and trade ties, expanding practical cooperation in various fields and properly addressing each other’s concerns,” according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Both countries want to stabilize their economic relationship after last year’s trade war, which saw the two countries impose tariffs of over 100% on each other’s goods. It’s not clear whether the U.S. and China are on track to strike a comprehensive trade agreement after the meeting.
Mr. Trump brought with him many of the leaders of the largest U.S. companies, who joined a portion of the meeting focused on trade.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the U.S. government delegation.
Upon leaving the meeting, Mr. Musk said it was “wonderful” and that “many good things” were achieved.
Mr. Huang said that the meeting “went well” and that the two leaders were “incredible.”
