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US President Donald Trump is headed to China to meet with Xi Jinping. It's Trump's first trip to China since 2017, and analysts have a range of perspectives on what might come out of the meeting.
Transcript
00:00U.S. President Donald Trump is headed to China, where he'll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first
00:06time in more than six months.
00:08A lot has changed in that time, especially the start of a U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that's led to
00:14major global fuel shortages.
00:16But Trump is upbeat, telling a crowd of reporters Iran might not come up at all, and that U.S.-China
00:22ties are in good shape.
00:23We're doing very well with China, and working with China has been very good, so we look forward to it.
00:29As you know, President Xi will be coming here toward the end of the year, so that'll be exciting, too.
00:35I only wish we had the ballroom finished. The ballroom is right on budget and ahead of schedule.
00:41But there's friction, too. U.S. tariffs, including a 10% fentanyl tariff, remain in place.
00:47And then there are issues like Taiwan, which China claims, but which gets U.S. support, including with arms sales.
00:55Analysts have a range of perspectives on what might come out of this meeting.
00:59With the U.S. under Trump more ambiguous about Taiwan, some don't believe Taiwan will be a major topic, perhaps
01:05not as big a focus as Iran.
01:07I expect the Chinese will bring it up, try to see if they can get the president to agree to
01:12something.
01:12I'd be very surprised, though, if we see something significant come out of this summit on Taiwan, including the arms
01:21sales.
01:22Others agree Taiwan will come up, but the desire on both sides for diplomacy might keep the tone muted.
01:28And so I think you've seen a willingness on both sides to avoid some of the most sensitive things that
01:35could derail the summit.
01:37This summit has already been delayed once due to the war in Iran, so I think that there's a desire
01:42to ensure that the meetings continue to take place
01:46and that both sides can have these conversations once they get there.
01:49Some analysts in China expect a focus on repairing the U.S.-China trade relationship instead,
01:55with the potential for big Chinese orders of U.S. products like aircraft.
01:59I think very much we're likely to see this kind of a big deal.
02:04President Trump wants to promote American products, and I think to him, it's already a big win.
02:10I would expect a fairly large purchase order from China in this case,
02:17based on which President Trump can really boast about his achievement. It is achievement.
02:23In Beijing, there's both hope for rapprochement with the world's other major power.
02:39And a sense of confidence, that in a decade or so since Trump's last visit,
02:48China has built up the strength to hold its own against its strategic rival.
03:04Trump's visit to China will be brief, only around a day and a half.
03:08But in that window, Trump and Xi will try and steer one of the world's most critical diplomatic relationships
03:13through an unstable world.
03:15Klein Wang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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