Trump says he looks forward to Xi summit even as tensions mount
The two leaders are slated to meet next week, on May 14 to 15 in Beijing
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[NEW YORK] US President Donald Trump said that he’s looking forward to meeting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, signalling that his plans for the high-stakes summit are still on despite fresh tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
“I’m going to go see President Xi in two weeks. I look forward to that,” Trump said on Monday (May 4) during a White House event. “Actually, it will be a very important trip.”
The two leaders are slated to meet on May 14 to 15 in Beijing, with high stakes for the US and China as they seek to navigate challenges on trade and other fronts, including Taiwan and the war in Iran. US and Chinese officials have been preparing for the summit for months, including discussions over creating a new bilateral mechanism to help manage economic ties.
The Middle East conflict has already delayed the meeting once, sparking anxiety in financial markets that it would add to an already complicated relationship. US-China ties largely stabilised after last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs sparked worries about a global downturn.
The Iran war has brought fresh strains. The nine-week conflict has choked off the flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving crude importers such as China working to prevent any domestic shortages. US efforts to ramp up pressure on Teheran to bring an end to the war have led to sanctions on refiners in China that process Iranian oil.
China has now ordered companies not to abide by US sanctions on private refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade, an act of defiance that will test the US sanctions system.
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Trump has also questioned if Beijing is helping Iran in the war. He has said the US Navy had intercepted a “gift” bound for Iran, without providing more details.
The US has also been pressuring China, along with other economies that rely on oil imports, to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Beijing, as well as US allies, have baulked at those calls. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday urged China to join an American operation to escort ships through the strait.
“Let’s see them step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the strait,” Bessent said. BLOOMBERG
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