- 3 months ago
This special report focuses on the high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the South Korean port city of Busan, which resulted in major geopolitical shifts and trade agreements on soybeans, fentanyl, and rare earth minerals. In a dramatic move, President Trump announced a significant shift in U.S. military policy, stating on Truth Social, 'Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.' The report delves into Trump's groundbreaking acknowledgement of China as a 'G2' power, a status no previous American president has formally conceded. It also examines the implications for India, which now faces increased pressure to finalize a trade deal with the United States, as Washington pivots its focus after settling key issues with Beijing.
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00:00Hello and welcome, I'm Geeta Mohan and you're watching India Today Global, the top story.
00:21It was a defining moment when U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
00:27met in South Korea's port city of Busan. Handshakes, smiles and whispers, the meat influenced
00:34policies both trade and foreign of these countries along with a shift in geopolitics.
00:40But a message that President Xi sent to the U.S. If MAGA was U.S. slogan, so for Beijing
00:46it is China first. The leaders decided on trade supplies ranging from soybeans to curbing
00:53the flow of fentanyl to the resumption of the flow of rare earth minerals. And the most
00:58important was President Trump's acknowledgement of China being a G2, a rare acknowledgement
01:04by an American president. More on this meat in this report by Mahashweta Lala.
01:12Curtains were down as the much anticipated and talked about meeting between leaders of the
01:17two worst, most powerful economies concluded in the South Korean port city of Busan. A meeting
01:24described as amazing by U.S. President Donald Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
01:30saw major issues that created ripples across the global economy settled at the table. Reaffirming
01:37his good relations with friend Xi, Trump touted the Chinese president as a great leader of a great
01:42country. This comes a day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cancelled H-1B visa in state universities,
01:51affecting several Chinese students. President Xi began by expressing his happiness to meet Trump
01:58after a long time. But without any theatrics, talked about the recent U.S.-China trade war
02:04with both countries imposing tariffs and stalling import of several goods.
02:08Given the different national conditions in China and the U.S., it cannot be avoided that we do not
02:16always see eye to eye with each other. And it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to
02:21have frictions now and then. And in the face of winds, waves and challenges, me and President Trump at
02:26the helm of China-U.S. relations should stay the right course and ensure the steady sailing forward of the
02:31giant ship of China-U.S. relations. The one hour 40 minutes meeting between the two leaders
02:37was attended by aides within the close circle of both the leaders.
02:42We are in agreement on so many elements. Large amounts, tremendous amounts of the
02:52soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately, starting immediately. If you
02:56notice, the presidency authorized yesterday for China to start, did you know that, right? China to start
03:05buying in very large quantities of soybeans and other things, which I appreciated. That was a very nice gesture.
03:13The meeting also brought an end to the long-stalled U.S. soybean exports into the Chinese markets. A huge
03:20relief to the U.S. farmers who voted for Trump during the presidential campaign, as a post on Truth Social
03:26announced the immediate purchase of soya beans by China. The Chinese have agreed to buy 12 million metric
03:34tons of soybeans during this season, right now, between now and the should be January. And then for the next
03:45three years, they're going to be buying a minimum of 25 million metric tons per per annum for the next three years.
03:55Fentanyl, another bone of contention in the trade, saw 10 percent tariffs being slashed from 20 percent.
04:03Many other things like that. We, on Fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to
04:10stop the flow. I've agreed, as you know, I put a 20 percent tariff on China because of the Fentanyl
04:17coming in, which is a big tariff. And based on his statements today, I reduced it by 10 percent,
04:23so it's 10 percent instead of 20 percent effective immediately. I believe he's going to work very hard to
04:32stop the death that's coming in.
04:35The other major trade barrier that prompted China to impose tariffs on export control was to settle
04:42the dispute over rare earth mineral. Trump said China agreed to keep the rare earth flowing
04:48to the world as a part of a one-year agreement.
04:51We negotiated at the end of the year, but all of the rare earth has been settled.
04:56And that's for the world. I mean, you know, worldwide. This, I guess you could really say,
05:04this was a worldwide situation, not just the U.S. situation. So we continue to produce the
05:10rare earth and buy the rare earth and everything else, you know, when you see from other countries.
05:15But China is, that whole situation, that roadblock has gone now. There's no roadblock at all.
05:23The U.S. president also discussed the Russia-Ukraine war, but did not bring up China's purchase of
05:29Russian oil. The U.S. has imposed additional tariffs on India and accused it of fueling the
05:35Russian war machine by purchasing oil from Moscow. The Trump's top aides have time and again talked
05:43about China's close proximity to Russia. And being one of the biggest purchasers of Russian oil and energy,
05:50Washington never imposed additional tariffs on Beijing for this. But both the leaders did share
05:56concern over the Russia-Ukraine war and Chinese president agreed to work in tandem with President
06:02Trump on the issue. Ukraine came up very strongly. We talked about it for a long time and we're both
06:10going to work together to see if we can get something done. We agreed the sides are, you know, locked in
06:17fighting and sometimes you have to let them fight, I guess. Crazy. But he's going to help us and we're
06:22going to work together on Ukraine. There's not a lot more we can do. You know, he's been buying oil
06:28from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a big part of China. And, you know, I can say India's been
06:37very good on that front. But we didn't really discuss the oil. We discussed working together to see if we
06:45could get that war finished. Handshakes, whispers and smiles. Symbolic gestures projecting that both
06:53leaders played a polite and diplomatic game on world stage, though being two tough competing world
06:59economies. Trump's recognition of China in the G2 gives it an upper hand and pushes it further to
07:06pursue its goal to achieve the numero uno status in the world. This is perceived as a win for China as
07:13no U.S. president in the past has ever acknowledged China's G2 status. The group of two or the G2
07:20originated in the late 2000s as an idea for the U.S. and China to jointly steer global governance.
07:27Mahashwetalala, Bureau Report, India Today.
07:34And Rohit Sharma joins me for more on this. Rohit has been tracking what's happening
07:39on that front when it comes to U.S. and China.
07:42Rohit, a very important meeting there. There might not have been hugs.
07:48The warmth also not as evident as when you see Trump with Prime Minister Modi or even Xi Jinping.
07:55But substance, a lot got done.
08:00Absolutely, Geeta. You know, I think this was one of the most watched meetings after President Trump
08:05met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August of this year. I think a lot of Americans had a lot of interest
08:10in what these two leaders will meet and discuss. And we've seen a lot of things being said,
08:14especially on the American side about China. But I think what we saw today is, you know,
08:19the art of the deal by President Trump. He talks about extreme things. You know, he pulls
08:24everything at you and then he wants you to come down, sit together and discuss. And importantly,
08:29you know, as you said, you know, not a lot of warm shakes, you know, not a lot of photo ops,
08:35but important stuff. There was a meat in the stuff that they discussed. And that is what we were able
08:40to see. The other important thing is that, you know, President Trump has been pressed domestically
08:45on farmers by the farmers on the soybean and purchase of U.S. farm products and also on the rare earth element.
08:53And today, when he lands back in Washington, D.C., he will have a message that he can drive home.
08:58So I think it's a big win for President Trump. Yes, not a big trade deal. But I think as far as President
09:03Trump is concerned and also Xi Jinping, you know, they can both go home and talk about how they are working
09:09together to resolve issues with two more important deadlines. One, a visit by President Trump in April
09:14to China and then a follow on meeting next year by Chinese Premier in America, could be Florida,
09:20could be D.C. So I think a very important meeting and both parties can walk away by saying they achieved
09:25a lot today. Right. When it comes to the rare earth minerals deal, are there details that are emerging,
09:34the lifting of the controls that China had put and imposed? Is it going to be lifted? He did
09:42written to various countries not to export to U.S. Will that be lifted? Because we are looking at
09:47tariffs coming down a huge by a huge notch, which makes India hold that unenviable position of maybe a
09:56country with the highest tariff rates right now with the United States of America.
10:02Right. I mean, Chinese, I mean, although they'd be paying 47 percent, still less than what India is
10:07paying today at 50 percent. And yes, you know, after all that's being said and done, it's not a trade
10:12deal, but at least an agreement, a framework that we were talking about, Gita. The other thing is,
10:17everybody on that table that we saw from Lutnik to the other people on the table, their focus,
10:25I think, would not shift towards India. I think they've done what they wanted to do with China,
10:29and India remains the only other major power in the world that hasn't been able to come to a trade
10:34agreement. So yes, India will be feeling the pressure. At least New Delhi would be wanting
10:39to get a trade deal done. We've heard from sources here in Washington, D.C. and New Delhi that good
10:44things are happening. There's progress. But I think now President Trump and his team will move and shift
10:49their focus towards getting that elusive trade deal with India.
10:52India. Okay, stay on with us. We'll discuss more of the U.S.-China aspect in detail. But ahead of
11:01the meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, something very important happened. One is that
11:06China played its card opening up and buying soybean from the United States of America. But on the other
11:13hand, Trump also had a hand to play. He wanted to play the nuclear race card. President Trump ordered the
11:20U.S. military to immediately start the testing of nuclear weapons on an equal basis with China and
11:27Russia. The order was given minutes before the historic and amazing meeting between U.S. President
11:33Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. It's also a major shift in U.S. policy
11:39at a time when tensions are brewing among the nuclear armed superpowers. Now, in a post on Truth Social,
11:46Trump said, and I quote, the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country, Russia is
11:53second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years. Because of other countries'
12:00testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.
12:08It had to do with others. They seem to all be nuclear testing. Russia? We have more nuclear weapons than
12:16anybody. We don't do testing. We've halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing,
12:24I think it's appropriate that we do also. Are there details around the testing center? Like where, when?
12:29We wouldn't be. It'll be announced. You know, we have test sites. It'll be announced.
12:33Well, it was not clear if Trump was referring to a nuclear weapons test or a test of a nuclear
12:41capable weapon system. In fact, such a test would be the first in 33 years. Since the 1990s, not one of
12:49the world's three major military powers conducted a nuclear weapons test. China conducted its last known
12:56testing test in 1996. The U.S. last conducted a nuclear test in 1992, when it began a voluntary
13:03moratorium on such explosive testing. Though the date is not yet announced, a report by the
13:09Congressional Research Service says it would take 24 to 36 months for the U.S. to test a nuclear weapon
13:16after the President gives the order. Now, the announcement also follows Russia's successful
13:21test of a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile, as well as a nuclear-powered
13:27torpedo. China and Russia have been developing and testing advanced weapons capable of delivering
13:34nuclear warheads. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Russia has around 6,000 warheads,
13:41and the U.S. accounts for nearly 90 percent of the world's arsenal. China may also have 1,000 nuclear
13:47warheads by the end of the decade. During a military parade in Beijing in September, China showed off
13:53its nuclear triad for the first time, systems that can launch nuclear-capable missiles by land,
13:59sea, and air. U.S. President Donald Trump also said he has given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered
14:07nuclear-powered submarines.
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