U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks at the White House today. U.S. mainstream media observed that Trump personally picked up the plane and arranged military salutes, state banquets and other high-level courtesy. Although the United States and China extended the trade truce for two months, the actual progress in the talks was limited and no major breakthroughs were made.
The New York Times ran the headline "Trump greets Xi Jinping at the White House, and the grand pomp may conceal tense relations." The report pointed out that Trump emphasized the friendship between the two in public, while Xi Jinping focused more on geopolitics and competition between the two countries, saying that the interests of the United States and China are "deeply intertwined" and once again proposed to avoid the "Thucydides Trap."
Please read on...
The New York Times pointed out that the United States arranged for hundreds of U.S. troops to participate in grand ceremonies, B-2 stealth bomber flyovers, state banquets and other grand events, but the trade, technology and geopolitical tensions between the United States and China did not disappear.
The Associated Press pointed out under the title "Trump sets the stage for Xi Jinping, but rarely talks about major tensions in U.S.-China relations." The United States and China are in a generational competition for economic and technological dominance, and both sides seem to be counting on the personal relationships and common interests between leaders to prevent competition from escalating into a public conflict.
The report pointed out that Trump emphasized the establishment of a "real and deep friendship" with Xi Jinping, while Xi Jinping said that competition between the United States and China should be "healthy" and "should be kept within certain boundaries."
The Associated Press pointed out that Xi Jinping raised the Taiwan issue to Trump in closed-door talks and asked the United States to "handle the Taiwan issue prudently." However, the White House did not release the complete minutes of the talks immediately after the talks ended, and Trump has not yet stated what specific results the two sides have negotiated on Taiwan, artificial intelligence (AI) and other major issues.
After the meeting, Reuters pointed out under the title "Four Key Observations of the Trump-Xi Washington Summit" that although the United States and China extended the trade truce for two months, a long-term agreement has not been formed, and core issues such as tariffs, Chinese procurement, rare earth supply and technology restrictions are still left for the next round of negotiations.
The report also pointed out that Xi Jinping hopes that the United States will "oppose Taiwan's independence", which is stronger than the "not supporting Taiwan's independence" that Washington has long used. There is currently no sign that the Trump administration is ready to change its existing statement.
Reuters also noticed that Xi Jinping once again mentioned the "Thucydides Trap" during the talks, which is the theory that when a rising power competes with an existing power, it may lead to war. Although Xi Jinping said that this risk "can be overcome," reports believe that these remarks highlighted the doubts about potential military conflict between the United States and China that still hang over bilateral relations. Xi Jinping also called for strengthening military dialogue and crisis prevention mechanisms.
The "Washington Post" started from the changes in Trump's strategy towards China, pointing out that the White House has recently shifted from a tougher confrontational line to paying more attention to maintaining frequent interactions with Xi Jinping. The report also noted that China controls the rare earth supply chain and other bargaining chips, which makes the United States pay more attention to avoiding further escalation in bilateral relations when dealing with trade and technology disputes.
