The second meeting between Trump and Xi ended without mentioning Taiwan. Dean of China Economic and Social Development Lian Xianming: Taiwan’s chips are crucial to the US-China AI competition

U.S. President Trump (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) prepare to leave after visiting the U.S. National Archives on the 25th. (AFP)

[Reporter Liao Jianing/Reporting from Taipei] Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States after 11 years and held talks with US President Trump at the White House. This was the second meeting between Trump and Xi this year. The two meetings between Trump and Xi ended on the 26th Taiwan time. The reports released by the United States and China after the meeting did not mention the Taiwan issue. Lian Xianming, president of the China Economic and Trade Commission, said that Taiwan's chip manufacturing is crucial to the artificial intelligence (AI) competition between the United States and China. It will be difficult for the United States to win the AI ​​competition without Taiwan.

Lian Xianming posted on Facebook yesterday that, as originally expected, it was another meeting with thunder and light. Both the United States and China want to use this meeting to achieve certain goals, but their differences are too great and there is too little mutual trust. The final result is the same as the 1992 Consensus. The only thing the two sides agree on is to talk next time.

Lian Xianming said that the topics summarized at the summit include bilateral trade and tariff truce, procurement and investment in the United States, artificial intelligence, critical mineral control, the Iran war and the Taiwan issue. Trump spent a lot of effort to lay out the red carpet and personally went to pick up the plane. He always hoped that Xi Jinping would help solve the Iran issue and at least save the midterm elections. "Xi Jinping is also an old fox. The Iran war happened to contain the US military in the Middle East. How could he come to the rescue?"

Lian Xianming continued, on the other hand, Xi Jinping believes that the Taiwan issue is a top priority, but since China attaches so much importance to it, the action taken by the United States is to carefully evaluate and then do nothing. Otherwise, how can it still have bargaining chips in the future. More importantly, Taiwan’s chip manufacturing is crucial to the AI ​​competition between the United States and China. Without Taiwan, it would be very difficult for the United States to win.

Lian Xianming pointed out that it is even more unbelievable for the United States and China to cooperate in the field of AI. Trump has repeatedly said that the United States must lead China in the artificial intelligence competition, but it has not yet sold the most efficient AI chips to China. Not only does China not agree to purchase inferior AI chips, it also does not adopt the large language model developed by the United States. It must go its own way to be independent and self-reliant. How can cooperation be possible when the competition between the two sides is so fierce? Which country would agree to slow down and regulate the progress of AI?

Lian Xianming believes that tariffs, trade and rare earths are more likely to be discussed. Just like the last summit, the two sides agreed to continue the trade truce, the United States agreed to reduce some tariffs, and China agreed to buy more agricultural products and sell more rare earths until the next summit (at the end of the year). His friends in the American think tank also predicted that Trump would not approve arms purchases from Taiwan by the end of the year.