- By Ajeet Kumar
- Sat, 18 Jan 2025 11:50 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation on Friday-- nearly two days before the Republican leader is set to take oath for the second time. The major development came as Trump threatened to impose trade tariffs and stern stand on the Taiwan issue.
Both leaders were upbeat about the call, with Trump calling it "a very good one" and Xi saying he and Trump both hoped for a positive start to US-China relations, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
It was the first known phone call between the pair after Trump's election in November.
The US and China are embroiled in an array of diplomatic and economic disagreements, including an accelerating technological and military rivalry and bitter trade disputes. Marco Rubio, Trump's nominee to be his secretary of state, has defined China as the gravest threat facing the US and warned about the risks of possible military conflict between the two countries.
Trump and Xi discuss TikTok issue
The call came shortly before the US Supreme Court on Friday announced a ruling upholding a law that mandates TikTok owner ByteDance divest TikTok's US assets by Sunday to a non-Chinese buyer or be banned on national security concerns.
"The call was a very good one for both China and the USA. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and start immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
"President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!"
Chinese President reacts to Trump's stand on Taiwan issue
Xi raised China's concerns about Taiwan, which Beijing maintains is part of its territory, and said he hoped the US would treat the matter with great care. "The Taiwan issue concerns China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and he hopes the US side will handle it with caution," he said according to Chinese state television.
Xi said the United States and China can have their differences but must respect each other's core interests, and that trade relations can be mutually beneficial without confrontation and conflict, comments similar to those he made during Trump's first term.
The Chinese readout of the call said the two leaders agreed to set up a "channel of strategic communication to keep in regular touch on major issues of shared interest."
Trump offered strong support to Taiwan, including regularising arms sales, in his first term. But during the campaign last year, he said Taiwan should pay the US to be defended. The Republican president-elect, who upended trade relations in his first term, is about to embark on an even more aggressive effort in his second term. He has pledged to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing does more to stop the trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl, and he threatened tariffs in excess of 60 per cent on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.
Trump said on January 6 that he and Xi have been communicating through representatives, expressing optimism about their relationship.
Will Xi attend Trump's innaguration event?
Breaking with tradition, Trump had invited Xi and other foreign leaders to his January 20 inauguration, but China is sending Vice President Han Zheng, a move signalling Beijing's desire to step up communication with the incoming administration.
Still, any "grand bargain" between the two sides over trade, Taiwan and other strategic issues would be difficult to reach, said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
"There's an immense amount of distance between what one can imagine and actually achieving such an outcome. The interests between the US and China on many of these issues are different and the views of key advisors to both are quite hawkish," Kennedy said.
(With inputs from Agency)