U. S. president was highly critical of Beijing during campaign, levelling threats over trade, but he needs China's help
BEIJING — President Trump will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time on April 6-7 at Mr. Trump’s Florida resort, China ’s Foreign Ministry announced Thursday, amid a range of pressing issues including trade , North Korea and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Mr. Trump predicted “a very difficult” meeting in a tweet just hours after both governments announced the summit. He wrote in part: “We can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses. American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives.”
After suggesting he wants to renegotiate the One China policy, Donald Trump was labeled a « rookie » by China’s nationalist tabloid.
China’s immediate response to Mr. Trump’s tweet was diplomatic, with Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang telling reporters Friday morning that “both sides look forward to a successful meeting so that a correct direction can be set for the growth of bilateral relations.”
“China will continue to work with the United States to think creatively and keeping pushing for greater balance in China-U. S. trade,” Zheng said.
The relationship between the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies has been uncertain following the election of Mr. Trump, who accused China during his campaign of unfair trade practices and threatened to raise import taxes on Chinese goods and declare Beijing a currency manipulator.
In a clear indication of the “difficult” nature of the bilateral talks regarding the South China Sea, where China has spent years building man-made islands on top of reefs in waters surrounding vital international shipping lanes, the Chinese Defense Ministry completely denied the construction this week.
In remarks made Thursday, a Defense Ministry official said there was “no such thing” as manmade islands in the South China Sea, reiterating the Chinese government’s stance that any building work on the islands was primarily for civilian purposes.
Go behind the scenes with Seth Doane as he and his team try to find out what China is really up to on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
The reality, however, is that China is believed to have installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a December 2016 report that the anti-aircraft guns and close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack were placed on all seven of China’s newly created islands.
