U.S. president Donald Trump can visit China as early as next month, according to many diplomatic sources, as the American leader seems focused on reaching an agreement with Beijing since returning to the White House.
The presidents of both countries would like the gathering to take place in their country to present this as a diplomatic triumph, but according to sources the preliminary discussions afraid only Trump's visits to China.
It is unclear how far the talks on possible travel have gone.
Leaks from well-informed sources
One Chinese origin said that "Beijing officials are now more hard to talk to their counterparts in Washington than behind Biden's administration due to the fact that Washington is undergoing drastic changes."
On January 20, a fewer days before Trump returned to the White House, both leaders held a telephone call during which they raised many topics.
A week later, Chinese abroad Minister Wang Yi spoke to his American counterpart Marco Rubio, but no authoritative gathering has taken place since then. Rubio was sanctioned respective years ago by Beijing and technically cannot visit China.
One origin argues that both countries discussed the Trump and Xi summits and worked to organise it in April, although dates have not yet been definitively set. The same origin revealed that Trump explicitly expressed hope that Xi would visit his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, where both leaders met earlier in 2017. Beijing does not accept specified a solution and proposes a more formal meeting. There's talk of Trump being invited to China. "For Xi, if Trump visits China after "Two Sessions", it will be an crucial diplomatic victory".
American origin reported that "Trump will visit China at the earliest in April".
Trump plays himself
According to erstwhile reports, Trump told his advisors that he wanted to go to China in the first 100 days of office, and a visit to April would be in this 100-day period.
The visit would take place at a time erstwhile trade friction between China and the United States continues to increase after Trump doubled its duties on Chinese goods. China then took retaliation.
The investigation of Chinese commercial practices, previously ordered by Trump, is due to end by April, and its results may form the basis for further commercial action against Beijing.
Trump, who presents himself as a “hard contract negotiator”, signaled his willingness to negociate with China, saying in February that he believed that “a fresh trade agreement with China could be concluded”.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his "very good individual relations" with Xi. Last month, he said he was expecting Xi's visit to the U.S., but he didn't give a circumstantial visit date.
History of the past 8 years of relations
Trump visited China in November 2017 during his first presidency. He was accepted with honors in Beijing. A fewer months later, the president of the United States began a trade war with China. His successor, Joe Biden, did not visit China during his word as president of the United States.
In 2023, Xi took part in the Asia-Pacific economical Cooperation Summit (APEC) in San Francisco and met Biden at the margins of the event. According to the Chinese protocol, according to the order of visits, it is the American leader who should visit China this time.
According to the information obtained by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) from well-informed sources, the US leader is expected to visit China in April or May, and the "speak signs" of another Trump movement in China may appear "very quickly".
No circumstantial basis for discussion
"At the moment, Trump's squad is not declaring anything loud about China, as it only has half the membership compared to its first term. These people are presently focusing on Ukraine. Trump considers that he can shortly end Ukraine's case, and Ukraine, according to Trump and its surroundings, is much little complicated compared to China," the SCMP was informed, adding that after resolving Ukraine's issue, Washington's full attention “will be directed to China”.
According to the British source, the preparatory work for the summit of the 2 leaders was already underway, and the Chinese delegation reportedly visited Washington to make contact with the Trump administration "a fewer weeks ago".
The fresh York Times reported this period that a delegation of Chinese officials, including the erstwhile Chinese Ambassador to the USA Cui Tiankai, was in Washington to meet with representatives of American think tanks to, among others, present Chinese side ideas for a possible trade deal.
But the origin that asked for anonymity due to the delicacy of the case suggested that American officials were not certain of Washington's policy towards China and that “they would not know what to say due to the fact that [politics] had not yet been spelled out”.
Asertive China
Tensions between China and the United States stay advanced on many issues, including trade and technological restrictions on Washington, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Last week, erstwhile asked at a press conference about how Beijing would cooperate with the fresh Trump administration, China's abroad Minister Wang Yi stated that "no country should fantasize that it could simultaneously suppress China and keep good relations with China. specified two-faced actions are not good for the stableness of bilateral relations or for building common trust."
Speaking of Beijing's "silence" by Washington, Wang besides called on the US to "take an nonsubjective and rational view of China's development, pro-active engagement with China in applicable exchange and cooperation with China to follow the right way of common knowing for the benefit of both countries and the world."
The Ministry of abroad Affairs of China to date (11 March 2025) has not commented on the possible Xi-Trump meeting.
Leszek B. Glass
Email: [email protected]
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