U.S. President Trump held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House today. In an exclusive interview with China Central News Agency, former White House official Gray analyzed that Trump has achieved the goal of maintaining stable U.S.-China relations; he also believes that the U.S. stance on Taiwan will not change in the short term and that Washington will continue to provide advanced weapons to Taiwan and proceed in accordance with the normalized arms sales schedule.
Donald Trump welcomed Xi Jinping at the White House today and held bilateral talks. This is Xi Jinping’s second state visit to the United States after 11 years. It is also the second meeting between Trump and Xi this year after Trump’s visit to Beijing in May.
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The White House has yet to release a summary of the talks. China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping expressed during the meeting that he hopes the United States will insist on opposing "Taiwan independence" and "handle the Taiwan issue prudently" to lay the foundation for China-U.S. strategic cooperation and the development of bilateral relations.
●Xi Jinping is tough on Taiwan issues and the United States will continue to sell arms to Taiwan
Alexander Gray, who served as the chief of staff of the White House National Security Council during Trump 1.0, said in an exclusive video interview with reporters in the evening that Xi Jinping likes to preach, and in his interactions with leaders of the United States and other countries, Taiwan is the issue on which he has the strongest performance.
Gray believes that the U.S. position on Taiwan is not only the position of the Trump administration, but also the position of the United States as a whole. It has been established in the six guarantees on Taiwan and various official documents. "This will not change in the short term."
On the issue of arms sales to Taiwan, Trump has yet to make a decision on a new batch of US$14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. Given that Trump and Xi may have two more opportunities to meet at the end of this year, how will it affect arms sales to Taiwan? Gray said that in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, the United States is obliged to continue to provide Taiwan with the capabilities it needs for self-defense. The United States has a major interest in maintaining Taiwan as an autonomous entity, and this will not change in the short term.
In his view, Trump will only strengthen the United States' ability to maintain the status quo. Whether this arms sale is approved between now and a specific date, or in the next few months, or divided into several smaller batches of arms sales, "the United States will continue to supply advanced weapons to Taiwan."
U.S. officials have previously said that Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan during his first term than any other U.S. president. Gray also said he doesn't see anything changing.
He believes that the United States will still promote arms sales to Taiwan in accordance with the normalized arms sales schedule. The question is not "if it will happen", but "when" it will happen, the scale of the arms sales case and the items included.
●Trump and Xi met twice this year to maintain the stability of US-China relations
Gray is currently the CEO of American Global Strategies, a geopolitical consulting firm. Regarding this Trump-Xi meeting, he said that Trump achieved the goal of maintaining stable relations between the United States and China. "This is not to reach any major historic agreement, but to maintain the stability of relations."
The leaders of the United States and China held two meetings in less than half a year. Gray analyzed that this reflects that Trump attaches great importance to maintaining a good and stable relationship with China and maintains a positive personal relationship with Xi Jinping. Trump has always believed that personal relationships between leaders are crucial to maintaining stability among nations.
Gray pointed out that the meeting itself is of substantive significance. Regardless of whether there is a major announcement, it allows the leaders of the United States and China to meet, dialogue and maintain open communication, "which is an achievement in itself."
Foreign media reported that before the Trump-Xi meeting, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and announced that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend the trade truce that was originally scheduled to expire on November 10 for two months. Bessent also said that the two countries have formally established the "US-China AI Dialogue."
As the United States and China compete fiercely in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), Gray said that the establishment of an AI dialogue between the United States and China has not given up the United States' dominance in the field of AI, nor has it changed China's ambition to gain dominance. It reflects a reality: AI may indeed cause out-of-control events. "It makes sense to establish an open communication channel to try to prevent the escalation of such events."
Regarding the extension of the trade truce, he believes that the United States obviously hopes to maintain economic and strategic stability in order to buy more time to improve the situation of the United States in terms of rare earths and pharmaceuticals, and to bring more supply chains back to the United States to prepare for long-term competition. From a U.S. perspective, the more time there is to build resilience and capacity, the better.
