The White House announced on the 13th that U.S. President Trump will hold the first trilateral leaders’ meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Shenzhen, China, on the 18th and 19th to discuss nuclear weapons control and other issues.
Discuss nuclear weapons reduction and Iran issues
White House spokesman Wells said that on the morning of the 19th, Trump will first attend the APEC meeting, and then hold bilateral talks and a working lunch with Xi Jinping. The US-China-Russia trilateral summit will be Trump's final itinerary in Shenzhen. Among the various topics discussed, nuclear weapons reduction was confirmed. "The president has stated that he will discuss reducing the number of nuclear weapons around the world. He regards nuclear proliferation as extremely dangerous."
The South China Morning Post quoted officials and sources as saying that the United States, China and Russia have repeatedly discussed the agenda and procedures of the trilateral summit in the past period. In addition to nuclear weapons, Trump is also interested in discussing Iranian affairs. An unnamed senior U.S. official pointed out that the United States views the trilateral summit as a starting point for dialogue on reducing the number of nuclear weapons, but does not expect any form of agreement to be reached.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is also related to the direction of the global situation. Since Beijing is not deeply involved in the peace process between the United States, Russia and Ukraine, "it seems inappropriate to discuss Ukraine during the meeting."
Sichuan-Xi bilateral meeting will not discuss Huida case
In the bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump may focus on U.S.-China economic cooperation issues such as rare earth trade, but he will not discuss the Chinese espionage suspicions between global chip leader Huida and former CEO Jensen Huang. In addition, Trump has not planned a separate meeting with Putin, nor has he arranged any contact with North Korea.
The accompanying business leaders have been confirmed to include Musk, the world’s richest man. Musk plays a pivotal role in the political and economic exchanges between the United States, China and Russia. It has a huge business footprint and interests in China; the space exploration company SpaceX satellite communication service "Starlink" he leads is used by Ukraine to resist Russian aggression. But Musk will not participate in the talks between the three leaders.
Trump first attends Quad security dialogue
According to the itinerary announced by the White House, Trump will first arrive in Manila, Philippines, on the 17th to attend the first Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders’ summit of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia in more than two years. The Quad is widely seen as a cooperative mechanism to counter Beijing’s expansion of influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Wells said that under Trump's leadership, the Quad has demonstrated an actionable partnership to deal with the most difficult challenges in the region and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Trump will also sign a trade agreement with Thailand, and attend the "United States and Association of Southeast Asian Nations" (US-Asean) special summit and dinner; on the 18th, he will accept a national reception ceremony and bilateral summit hosted by Philippine President Marcos Jr. The U.S. side stated that Trump will sign several commercial agreements and finalize strategic investments to open up new markets for U.S. aerospace, defense, energy and technology companies. Trump is scheduled to transfer to China on the afternoon of the 18th.
