Day 1 of Beijing Summit Produces No Big Wins for Trump |
FP’s analysis and reporting
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the biggest takeaways of the Trump-Xi summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s political fortunes, and the collapse of Latvia’s coalition government.
“Partners, not adversaries” was the theme of high-stakes talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Set against the backdrop of Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People, both leaders expressed the desire to bolster economic ties to create what Xi called a “new vision” for the U.S.-China relationship. However, thinly veiled threats about Taiwan alongside Trump’s weakened position at home overshadowed the summit’s veneer of cooperation.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the biggest takeaways of the Trump-Xi summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s political fortunes, and the collapse of Latvia’s coalition government.
“Partners, not adversaries” was the theme of high-stakes talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Set against the backdrop of Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People, both leaders expressed the desire to bolster economic ties to create what Xi called a “new vision” for the U.S.-China relationship. However, thinly veiled threats about Taiwan alongside Trump’s weakened position at home overshadowed the summit’s veneer of cooperation.
Xi warned Trump on Thursday that any disagreement over Taiwan could harm bilateral relations—and even lead to conflict. “If [the Taiwan question] is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability,” a Chinese readout of the meeting said. “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”
China does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty and has repeatedly denounced Washington’s support for Taipei. Experts expected Xi to push Trump on Thursday to delay a promised $14 billion arms package for Taiwan. The deal, passed in January and awaiting the U.S. president’s approval, comes after Trump already signed off on another massive package worth $11.1 billion the month before.
Ahead of the summit, analysts suspected that Trump would try to downplay U.S. ties with Taiwan to secure favorable trade deals with China. High fuel prices due to........