Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US president-elect Donald Trump yesterday agreed to meet “at an early date” to discuss the relationship between their two nations, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said yesterday.
In a telephone call, Xi told Trump — who frequently savaged Beijing on the campaign trail and threatened to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods — that the world’s top two economies “need cooperation and there are a lot of things we can cooperate on,” CCTV reported.
Xi and Trump “vowed to keep close contact, build good working relations and meet at an early date to exchange views on issues of mutual interest and the development of bilateral ties,” CCTV said.
Before his election, Trump went as far as calling the Asian giant the US’ “enemy,” accused it of artificially lowering its currency to boost exports and pledged to stand up to a country he said views the US as a pushover.
He has vowed to pursue a policy of “peace through strength” and build up the US Navy.
However, he also indicated he is not interested in getting involved in far-off squabbles, and decried the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade deal — which encompasses several other Asian countries and has been seen as an effort to bolster US influence — as a threat to US jobs.
CCTV cited Trump as saying in the call that China was a large and important nation that he was willing to work with, and that he believed Sino-US relations could realize “win-win” benefits.
The phrasing the broadcaster attributed to Trump is typical of Chinese diplomacy.
In a statement, Trump’s office confirmed the call and said that “the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another.”
Trump “stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward,” it added.
Trump’s contrary and ambiguous positions have left a pall of uncertainty over how he will manage the relationship between the world’s two largest economies and its biggest and most powerful militaries.
An editorial in the often nationalistic Global Times newspaper yesterday warned that China would “take countermeasures” if Washington levied tariffs, saying that “making things difficult for China politically will do him no good.”
Beijing would use a “tit-for-tat approach” and target US autos, aircraft, soybeans and iPhones, it said, adding that China could limit the large number of students it sends to US schools.
Under US President Barack Obama, Washington’s foreign policy “pivot” toward Asia was viewed with alarm in Beijing, which saw it as an attempt to contain its growing geopolitical and economic might.
However, Trump has offered no clear prescriptions for the strategic issues that plague ties between the two powers, from the future of Taiwan to Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear program.
He has also indicated the US has had enough of paying to defend allies, such as Japan and South Korea, even suggesting they should develop their own nuclear weapons.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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