Xi telephone call – Trump

Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump held a long-awaited telephone call on Thursday 5 June during which they discussed Taiwan's issue and strained trade relations and then invited each another to visit the capitals of their countries.

Trump wrote on social media that the conversation "had very affirmative results for both countries".

"During the interview, president Xi kindly invited the first woman and me to visit China, and I returned the favor. As presidents of 2 large nations, we both look forward to it," he added.

This was the first conversation since the telephone call 3 days before Trump's inauguration on 20 January, which the American president described as “very good”. The White home claimed there was a second conversation in February, which Beijing did not confirm.

The news of the leadership's talk came after a series of common accusations, erstwhile Washington and Beijing blamed each another for breaking an agreement reached a fewer weeks ago in Geneva, where the 2 largest economies of the planet agreed to a extremist simplification of the common duties for 90 days, as Trump called the "total reset".

According to separate communications, the leaders agreed to reverse the visa blockade for Chinese students studying in the United States, which provoked the outrage of Beijing, and resumed Chinese exports of uncommon earth minerals, resulting in the irritation of the American administration.

The speech of both messages was clearly different: The Americans have provided information highly positive, China is more abstinent, more cautious.

Chinese state tv CCTV stated that China's leader stressed the importance of Taiwan's issue, whereas Trump himself indicated that the conversation "focused almost exclusively on trade", adding that it did not concern Russia, Ukraine or Iran.

"Xi Jinping stressed that the United States should be careful about Taiwan in order to avoid bringing both countries into a dangerous situation of conflict and confrontation," said CCTV

On Thursday both parties referred to the Geneva Agreement as a mention point.

"The Chinese always keep their promises and carry out their actions. Since consensus has been reached, both sides should respect it. The US side should realistically measure the advancement it has made and retreat the negative measures it has imposed on China," said Beijing.

During the interview, Xi was to call for a "strengthen exchange" in the areas of diplomacy, trade, military and law enforcement to build consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen cooperation.

Trump, commenting on the interview with Xi, suggested that Beijing agreed to ease its strategical control of the uncommon earth elements that are essential in many consumer and military technologies and are the main origin of China's negotiating advantage.

"There should be no uncertainty about the complexity of uncommon earth products," Trump wrote. "Our teams will meet soon".

Will Thursday’s conversation have fast results?

A fewer days ago, Trump's administration criticised China for tightening the export control of uncommon earths and stated that Beijing "completely violated" the Geneva Agreement.

China responded with criticism of Washington's decision, which the day after the announcement of the Geneva Agreement warned American companies against utilizing Ascend chips from Huawei Technologies anywhere in the world.

Observers, like Daniel Russel of the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) note that “Beijing's willingness to engage suggests that he feels stronger. China knows Trump is very keen to make an agreement and to make the most of it."

Russel pointed out Trump's reticent relation with the conversation, devoid of his kind of writing in capital letters, "probably due to the fact that Beijing demanded assurances that Trump would not talk on the subject and this was a fundamental condition for agreeing to the conversation."

Analysts noted that to alleviate tension, to remove restrictions, which most likely will not happen as shortly as Trump would have wished, more concrete alternatively than vague optimistic statements would be needed.

Some note that Beijing is increasingly wondering whether it can trust Trump's words. They point out that the U.S. president is committed to "rejecting" success alternatively than real problem solving.

"The bilateral pressures that have emerged since the Geneva gathering only show how hard and complicated the forthcoming trade talks with China will be, at a time erstwhile US negotiators are already very busy negotiating with another countries where duties have been imposed.

The likelihood of further misunderstandings combined with fundamental distrust will pose a immense challenge for negotiators trying to scope an agreement," Wendy Cutler of ASPI said in an interview with SCMP.

Beijing made it clear that Xi's 90-minute conversation with Trump took place at the request of the latter.

Trump, who considers himself a master of negotiation, has been anxious to talk straight to Xi for months. The Chinese side, preferring to resolve disputes through diplomatic channels, was not willing to exposure its leader to uncouth and unpredictable Trump. This is undoubtedly the consequence of a situation which Volodymyr Zelenski faced in the White House. In the Chinese planet of politics and diplomacy, the hazard of specified public humiliation is unimaginable.

What will be the real effects of Thursday’s conversation? We'll find out in a small while.

"We are open to consultation," said the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Trade He Yadong in mid-April, provided that they are "based on common respect and on the principles of equality".

Leszek B. Glass

Email: [email protected]

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