U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his visit to Beijing on Friday with a private meeting at Chinese leader Xi Jinping's official residence before he departs for Washington.
During a series of meetings and events on Thursday the two discussed divisive issues such as the Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan.
During those meetings, Trump said Xi told him China wants to help negotiate an end to the war and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. China is
the largest buyer of Iranian oil and Trump hopes Xi will use that leverage to prod Iran into a deal on U.S. terms. Trump also said Xi assured him that China wouldn’t provide Iran with military equipment.
Trump has taken a decidedly rosy outlook on the U.S.-China relationship during this trip. But that has collided with some difficult truths about the thorniest issues between the two superpowers including Taiwan, the Iran war and trade.
In a summit marked by fanfare and flattery, Xi warned Trump that differences over Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by Beijing as its own territory, could bring the U.S. and China into clashes or conflict. Trump authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December, but has not moved forward with delivery. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned later on Thursday it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force.
Trump also focused on trade and deals for China to buy more agricultural products and passenger planes, setting up a board to address their differences and avoid a repeat of the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes.
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The president suggested during the Fox News interview that Irian officials at first “said very strongly” that the U.S. could send it teams to collect hundreds of pounds of enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites badly damaged by U.S. military strikes last year.
But then, he said, Iran reneged.
“They agreed to it. They take it back. They agree, you know it’s back and forth,” he said.
Whether Iran would be willing to relinquish enriched uranium is a key point in negotiations to end the war.
Trump has long insisted Tehran is willing to do so, but Iran has largely rejected such assertions.
Trump added during the interview that Iran says only the U.S. and China had sufficient technology to remove the enriched uranium, given that its buried deep underground.
“He’s all business,” Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News in a taped interview that followed Thursday’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “There’s no games. There’s no talking about how nice the weather is.”
Trump said Xi is a “very smart person” and they have a “good relationship.”
“He’s all about China,” Trump said.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to hold more talks Friday.
They are set to spend time together at Xi’s official residence in Beijing before Trump flies back to Washington.
Trump has taken a decidedly rosy outlook on the U.S.-China relationship during this trip. But that is colliding with some difficult truths about the thorniest issues between the two superpowers including Taiwan, the Iran war and trade issues.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC that “there’s going to be some agricultural purchases” made as a result of this trip.
U.S. soybean farmers were hit especially hard by Trump’s trade war with China and have urged him to persuade Beijing to buy more of their crop.
China is on track to fulfill its commitment to buy 12 million metric tons (13.2 million tons) of U.S. soybeans this year, although that is well below the 25 million to 30 million metric tons (27.5 million to 33 million tons) purchased in past years.
China, the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans, stopped buying them altogether last year after Trump hiked tariffs on all Chinese goods. After Trump met with Xi in October, the White House said China agreed to purchase 12 million metric tons.
The American Soybean Association hopes Trump can secure a deal for an additional 8 million metric tons (8.8 million tons) by Aug. 31.
