The Chinese President’s severe warning to Trump in their meeting

The eyes of the world are on the meeting between the President of the United States Donald Trump and the President of China Xi Jinping today (Thursday) in Beijing. At the beginning of their meeting, Xi issued a grim warning to Trump, according to which the Taiwan issue could bring the world’s two most powerful powers into conflict. The two are expected to talk today and tomorrow about a series of key issues, in an attempt to bridge the gaps between Washington and Beijing.

The Chinese leader didn’t waste time, and already at the beginning of the meeting between the two he referred to the most important issue for China: Taiwan. “If the issue is managed well, the two countries will be able to maintain stability. If it is managed poorly, the two countries will clash and may even fall into conflict, which will put US-China relations in an extremely dangerous situation,” Xi said.

In China, they strive to postpone or reduce American arms sales to Taiwan, an independent and democratic island off the coast of China, which it claims ownership of. Before the summit, Trump postponed the announcement of a $13 billion arms sales package to Taiwan.

The summit between the two leaders takes place in the midst of the first visit of an American president to China in almost a decade, and it comes at a time of tension between the two superpowers. Trump and Xi shook hands when they first met, and along with the warning Xi also provided a more conciliatory statement, according to which “we should be partners, not adversaries.” Trump referred to his personal relationship with the Chinese leader and told Xi he was a “great leader.”

China is one of Iran’s key economic allies, and is reported to have provided aid to it during the war. Trump wants China to pressure Tehran to promote peace talks and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which China itself suffers. About half of China’s crude oil imports go through the strait, so Xi has a clear interest in ending the war and reopening the shipping lane.

Trump’s arrival comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visited Beijing last week. In recent weeks, China has already pushed Iran towards the negotiating table, but the talks did not end in a deal. The American administration hopes that China will use its levers of pressure on Iran to lead it to flex its positions in the negotiations.

The issue of Taiwan is probably the most important issue for China, which claims ownership of the independent island located near its shores. In recent years, China has been preparing militarily to occupy the island, which enjoys some support from the West, which could lead to a wider global escalation.

Xi is expected to pressure Trump to cancel the arms package he announced in December, which was supposed to transfer weapons worth billions of dollars to Taiwan but so far has not materialized. In China, they strive to change the position of the American government regarding the island and bring about formal opposition to its independence.

The United States and China have been waging a trade war for the past year, which has included very high tariffs by the US government and an export ban on rare minerals by China. Trump’s tariffs, which at the tax stage were more than 140%, were a major source of tension between the countries, and China is expected to press for the reduction of the existing tariffs and reach a trade agreement that will re-regulate the economic relations between the countries.

During the meeting today, Xi told Trump that “there is no winner” in the trade war between the countries. He added that trade relations between China and the United States should be “beneficial to both sides.”

Politico reported that the drug trade is one of the main topics on Trump’s agenda at the summit with Xi. The president hopes to advance his war on the flow of drugs into the United States by putting pressure on Beijing to curb the flow of chemicals from China to cartels in Mexico, from which drugs are made.

Trump has consistently accused China of fueling the drug crisis in the United States. In Beijing they vehemently denied and refused to take real steps in the face of the American demands.