Trump heads to China amid Iran conflict

U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Beijing for a state visit from May 13 to 15, the White House announced Sunday. China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the trip Monday, saying Trump will visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The summit will be the leaders’ first face-to-face meeting in seven months since they met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan last October. It will also mark the first visit to China by a sitting U.S. president since Trump’s 2017 trip to Beijing during his first term in office.

According to the White House, Trump will arrive in Beijing on the evening of May 13 and attend an official welcoming ceremony and bilateral summit with Xi the following day.

The talks are expected to focus on whether to extend last October’s agreement suspending tariff increases and restrictions on rare earth exports, a temporary arrangement that effectively paused the U.S.-China trade dispute.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the war involving Iran, Taiwan, China’s nuclear program and security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.

A senior White House official said Sunday that the summit agenda would include possible agreements on bilateral trade and investment committees, as well as cooperation in aerospace, energy and agriculture.

The official added that Trump plans to raise concerns over China’s economic and military support for Iran and increase pressure on Beijing over the issue.

Some observers have speculated that Trump’s visit could pave the way for renewed diplomacy with North Korea, though no concrete signs of preparations for a U.S.-North Korea summit have emerged.

Meanwhile, Trump said Sunday that Iran’s response to a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the conflict was “totally unacceptable,” signaling strong dissatisfaction that Tehran had refused to comply with Washington’s demands over its nuclear program.

The remarks reinforced expectations that a ceasefire agreement is unlikely in the near term. Trump had originally delayed the U.S.-China summit, initially planned for late March, citing the war involving Iran. He is now set to meet Xi with the conflict still unresolved.

In an interview with the current affairs program “Full Measure” released Sunday, Trump also warned that military strikes against Iran could resume. “We can go back in for another two weeks and hit every target,” he said. “I said they were defeated, but that does not mean it’s over.” The comments underscored the possibility that the United States could launch another round of airstrikes against Iran.


Chul-Jung Kim tnf@donga.com