US President Donald Trump pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear program and help reduce the gaping US trade deficit with Beijing in talks on Friday, even as he toned down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign.
Trump spoke publicly of progress on a range of issues in his first US-China summit — as did several of his top aides — but they provided few concrete specifics other than China’s agreement to work together to narrow disagreements and find common ground for cooperation.
As the two leaders wrapped up a Florida summit overshadowed by US missile strikes in Syria, Xi joined Trump in emphasizing the positive mood of the meetings while papering over deep differences that have caused friction between the world’s two biggest economies.
Photo: Reuters
Trump’s aides insisted he had made good on his pledge to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and said there was some headway, with Xi agreeing to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting US exports and reducing China’s trade surplus with the US.
Speaking after the two-day summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Xi had agreed to increased cooperation in reining in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, but he did not offer any new formula for cracking Pyongyang’s defiant attitude.
Trump had promised during the campaign to stop what he called the theft of US jobs by China. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 last year and Trump is under pressure to deliver for them.
The US Republican president last week said on Twitter that the US could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses and that his meeting with Xi “will be a very difficult one.”
On Friday, unpredictable Trump not only set a different tone, but also avoided any public lapses in protocol that Chinese officials had feared could embarrass their leader.
“We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China,” Trump told reporters as the two delegations met around tables flanked by large US and Chinese flags. “We will be making additional progress. The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.”
“I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away,” he added, without providing details.
Xi also spoke in mostly positive terms.
“We have engaged in deeper understanding, and have built a trust,” he said. “I believe we will keep developing in a stable way to form friendly relations... For the peace and stability of the world, we will also fulfill our historical responsibility.”
“Well, I agree with you 100 percent,” Trump said in reply.
However, in a sign that rough spots remained, Tillerson later described the discussions as “very frank and candid.”
“President Trump and President Xi agreed to work in concert to expand areas of cooperation while managing differences based on mutual respect,” he said.
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