Donald Trump announces April trip to Beijing and state visit for Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump said Monday that he has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Beijing in April and that he reciprocated by inviting Xi for a state visit to the US later next year Trump made the announcement after he spoke with Xi by phone nearly a month after the two leaders met in person in South Korea saying they discussed issues including Ukraine fentanyl and purchases of American soybeans Our relationship with China is extremely strong Trump wrote in a Truth Social postBeijing which announced the phone call first said nothing about the state visits but noted that the two leaders discussed trade Taiwan and Ukraine Xi told Trump that Taiwans return to mainland China is an integral part of the postwar international order the Chinese Foreign Ministry said a crucial issue to Beijing that Trump did not mention in his postThe omissions from each side signal that sticking points remain for the two superpowers even as they highlight common ground following a series of talks to ease a trade war that has threatened the global economy The conversation came as ChinaJapan relations have plunged to a new low following recent remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi She said the military in Japan a key US ally could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan the selfgoverning island that Beijing says must come under its ruleMy best guess is China is worried about the escalation in tensions with Japan The reference to Taiwan and the postWorld War II order directly points to the spat with Japan over Taiwan said Sun Yun director of the China programme at the Washingtonbased think tank Stimson Center They also talked about Ukraine That is an issue China is interested in due to the new peace negotiationChinas relations with Japan sourBeijing has denounced Takaichis remarks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying over the weekend that Japan crossed a red line that should not have been touchedXi told Trump on Monday that China and the US should jointly safeguard the victory of World War II after they fought together against fascism The US has taken no side on the sovereignty of the selfgoverned island but is opposed to the use of force to seize Taiwan It is obligated by a domestic law to provide sufficient hardware to the island to deter any armed attackTrump has maintained strategic ambiguity about whether he would send US troops in case of a war in the Taiwan Strait His administration has urged Taiwan to increase its defence budgetTaiwans foreign ministry said it received official notification this month that the Trump administration approved USD 330 million in arms sales to Taiwan including fighter jet parts Beijing immediately protested saying it grossly violated the socalled One China principle by which Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of Chinese territoryTrump said nothing publicly about Taiwan whereas the Chinese statement said Trump told Xi that the US understands how important the Taiwan question is to ChinaTalk of UkraineThe phone call coincided with the latest push by the Trump administration to end the war in Ukraine Xi expressed hope for a fair lasting and binding peace agreement in Ukraine and said the crisis should be resolved at its root the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Xi stressed Beijings support for all efforts that are conducive to peace according to the statement However Western governments have accused Beijing of enabling the war through its industrial support for MoscowTrump and Xi discussed tradeTrump said on social media that he spoke with Xi about Fentanyl Soybeans and other Farm Products etc We have done a good and very important deal for our Great Farmers and it will only get better Trump wrote Since he met Xi in South Korea in late October there has been significant progress on both sides in keeping our agreements current and accurate Trump saidSince then China has ordered nearly 2 million metric tons of US soybeans ending a monthslong boycott according to data by the US Department of Agriculture That is still short of the 12 million metric tons that the White House said China has agreed to buy before next year Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Monday on CNBC that every sign is their commitment remains true that they will indeed buy or purchase 12 million metric tonsThe White House also said China pledged to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans in each of the next three years China has yet to confirm such figures Beijing also placed export restrictions on 13 drugmaking chemicals to the United States Canada and Mexico including those that are used to produce the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the US every year In return the Trump administration reduced tariffs on Chinese goodsIn the call Xi said ties with the US have generally maintained a steady and positive trajectory following the leaders summit and that the two sides should strive to make more positive progress according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry With the trade dispute easing Trump wrote Now we can set our sights on the big pictureThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever