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U.S. President Donald Trump left China on Friday (May 15) with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war, despite two days spent heaping praise on his host, Xi Jinping. - REUTERS

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00:00So we had a great stay. It was an amazing period of time. President Xi is an incredible guy.
00:08U.S. President Donald Trump talked up his two-day meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday,
00:15but he left China with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end
00:21the Iran war. Ryan Haas is the director of the China Center at the Brookings Institution.
00:27I'm not sure that the results of the trip have exceeded expectations. They seem to be pretty
00:34modest. But it's worth noting that this is the first meeting of several that are planned between
00:39both leaders this year. So hopefully it provides an on-ramp to more productive conversations down
00:43the road. Xi issued a stark warning to Trump that any mishandling of China's top concern, Taiwan,
00:50could spiral into conflict. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has long opposed U.S.
00:57weapons sales to the island, which Beijing sees as interference in its internal affairs.
01:04The United States, despite lacking formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, remains Taiwan's most important
01:10international backer and largest supplier of arms. At the moment, a major U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan
01:18worth up to $14 billion is waiting on Trump's approval. But on Friday, the president said he
01:24hasn't decided whether to proceed.
01:27On Taiwan, he feels very strongly. I made no commitment either way. We'll see what happens.
01:32What about the arms sales to Taiwan?
01:35I'll make a determination over the next early short period.
01:38You're not necessarily going to go ahead. It was your proposal.
01:41I'm going to make a determination. I'm going to say, I have to speak to the person that right now,
01:45as you know, you know who he is that's running Taiwan.
01:48It was unclear if Trump was referring to Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-do.
01:52On the business front, Trump touted a deal between Boeing and China.
01:56A lot of great trade deals, including over 200 planes for Boeing with a promise of 750 planes,
02:04which will be by far the largest order ever if they do a good job with the 200, which I'm
02:09sure they will.
02:10However, this was significantly fewer than the roughly 500 jets that sources told Reuters had
02:16been under discussion, and Boeing's stock fell 3% Friday afternoon. There were scant details of
02:22agricultural deals made, and no signs of a breakthrough on selling NVIDIA's advanced
02:27H-200 AI chips to China, despite CEO Jensen Wang's dramatic last-minute addition to the trip.
02:35When President Trump last traveled to Beijing in 2017, there were elaborate signing ceremonies.
02:41The two sides announced upwards of $250 billion in commercial deals. The outcomes this time around
02:49pale in comparison. There were no signing ceremonies. The Chinese did not confirm or announce any major
02:55new investments. The absence of these outcomes is notable.
02:58Well, on Friday, before the leaders met for tea, China's foreign ministry issued a blunt statement
03:04outlining its frustration with the war with Iran.
03:07This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue, the ministry said,
03:13adding that China supported efforts to reach a peace deal in a war that has disrupted energy
03:18supplies and the global economy. Trump said the leaders had discussed Iran and felt very similar,
03:24though Xi did not comment. On the flight back home, Trump added that he wasn't asking for any favors on
03:31Iran.
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