Donald Trump is expected in Beijing on Wednesday to meet his “good friend” Xi Jinping, and assured that his visit will be fruitful despite their disagreements on the war in the Middle East, trade and Taiwan.
The American president does not want the war against Iran, China’s commercial and diplomatic partner, to spoil the lavish welcome his Chinese counterpart will reserve for him on Thursday and Friday.
“We will have a long conversation about Iran,” Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday who came to watch his departure from the White House.
Before declaring the complete opposite a few minutes later: “We have a lot of things to discuss. And I wouldn’t say that Iran is one of them.”
The Republican leader, entangled in a much longer and more complex conflict than he anticipated, assured that he had “no need for help with Iran” anyway.
– “Good things” –
Judging that China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil, had not caused “problems” in the face of the blockade imposed by the United States on Iranian ports, Donald Trump declared about his Chinese counterpart: “He’s someone we get along well with. And I think you’re going to see good things happen.”
This is the first visit to China by an American president since the one he himself made in 2017.
Behind Donald Trump’s optimism, the two leading world powers continue to engage in fierce competition, whether military, diplomatic, technological or economic.
“The summit will look polite on the surface, but tactically it will be a rugby match in which each side will want to gain the advantage,” predicts Melanie Hart, China specialist at the Atlantic Council.
US arms sales to Taiwan, China’s control of rare earth exports and customs duties are all areas of friction.
– Tesla et Boeing –
Economic relations between Beijing and Washington remain tense, despite the one-year trade truce concluded during the last meeting of the two presidents in South Korea in October.
With China, which has a significant trade surplus with the United States, the American president hopes to land big contracts and high-sounding investment promises.
He is accompanied by a large delegation of American business leaders, including Elon Musk (Tesla), Tim Cook (Apple) and Kelly Ortberg (Boeing).
The summit comes at a difficult time for Donald Trump, who is facing catastrophic polls and a surge in inflation in the United States, fueled by the war against Iran.
The meeting is also organized at an uncertain time for the Chinese economy, faced with weak domestic consumption and a persistent debt crisis in real estate.
The war against Iran, launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, led Donald Trump to postpone his trip once.
This conflict, and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, further complicates the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
– Arms sales to Taiwan –
Wishing for a rapid resolution to the war, the head of Chinese diplomacy Wang Yi asked Pakistan on Tuesday, during a call with his counterpart Ishaq Dar, to “intensify its mediation efforts” between the Americans and Iranians, according to his services.
He also asked Islamabad to “contribute to appropriately addressing issues related to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz”, the blockage of which limits supplies of energy and goods to China.
Donald Trump has sought to put an end to purchases of Iranian oil by China by taking various sanctions, condemned by Beijing, but without this degenerating into an open diplomatic crisis so far.
Another major point of contention for Chinese officials is the military assistance provided to Taiwan by the United States.
Donald Trump showed himself ready to discuss this thorny subject with Xi Jinping.
China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces. It pleads for a peaceful solution but reserves the right to use force with a view to “reunification”.
publié le 13 mai à 04h34, AFP
