Xi Jinping has warned Donald Trump the issue of Taiwan, if it is “mishandled”, could lead to conflict between the two superpowers.
The Chinese president also said trade talks were making progress at the start of Trump’s two-day trip to Beijing.
Describing Taiwan as the most important issue in the relationship between China and the United States, he said that independence for the self-governing island was incompatible with peace in the Taiwan Strait.
“If handled well, the relationship can remain overall stable; if mishandled, it could lead to clashes or even conflict, pushing ties into a very dangerous situation,” Chinese state media quoted Xi as telling Trump when they met in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning.
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Taiwan said nothing surprising had come out of the summit so far and that China’s pressure on Taipei is the real threat to peace. Foreign minister Liang Wenchieh said: “All we can say is that there has been no surprising information so far and we will continue to maintain close communication with the American side.”
He added: “If maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is truly the greatest common ground between China and the United States, then the Chinese Communist Party should restrain its own behaviour of military intimidation.”
Earlier, the Chinese president greeted Trump on Tiananmen Square with a military display featuring goose-stepping soldiers, marching bands and children waving flowers and Chinese and American flags. At the start of their meeting, Xi told Trump the world was watching to see if they could create a new paradigm of relations between great powers.
“Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world? Can we, in the interests of the wellbeing of our two peoples and the future of humanity, build a brighter future together for our bilateral relations? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people. They are the questions of our times that you and I need to answer as leaders of major countries,” he said.
Trump’s official delegation in the Great Hall of the People included secretary of state Marco Rubio, treasury secretary Scott Bessent and defence secretary Pete Hegseth. Also with the president in Beijing were chief executives from some of the world’s biggest companies, including Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jenson Huang.
Trump, who visited China during his first term in the White House in 2017, said that he and Xi had the longest relationship between presidents of their countries. He said they had a fantastic relationship, adding that he had “such respect” for China and for the job Xi had done as leader.
“You’re a great leader. I say it to everybody. You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it’s true,” he said.
The meeting at the Great Hall of the People lasted two hours and 15 minutes and the two leaders visited the Temple of Heaven on Thursday afternoon.
At a state banquet in the evening, Xi told the audience that the China-US relationship was the most important in the world. “We must make it work and never mess it up,” Xi said.
Trump and Xi will meet again on Friday morning before the US president returns to Washington.
The US presidents entered the talks with a weakened hand.
US courts have hemmed in his ability to levy tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries, while the Iran war has boosted inflation at home and elevated the risk that Trump’s Republican Party will lose control of one or both legislative branches in November’s midterm elections.
Though the Chinese economy has faltered, Xi does not face comparable economic or political pressure.
As well as Boeing jets, Washington is looking to sell farm goods and energy to China to cut a trade deficit that has long irked Trump. Beijing, for its part, wants US curbs eased on exports of chip-making equipment and advanced semiconductors, officials involved in the planning said. Additional reporting: Reuters
