At the first summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, U. S. officials suggested that they would be willing to take a unilateral approach to North Korea. Meanwhile, environmental issues didn’t make the discussion table.
BEIJING — After years of tough talk, President Trump finally had his chance to shape U. S.-China ties.
His Thursday/Friday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida was billed by both sides as a simple “get-to-know-you” for Trump and Xi. It was also a get-to-know-you for the rest of us, a first glimpse into how the presidents and their teams will manage what may be the world’s most important bilateral relationship. Though the mostly private meetings were overshadowed by the U. S. strike on a Syrian airfield , their brief interactions and statements provided some key clues about what comes next in U. S.-China ties. Here are six takeaways:
1. The U. S. may go its own way on North Korea
Trump has repeatedly complained that China is not doing enough to rein in North Korea’s nuclear program, but he already appears close to giving up on the idea of pushing Beijing to push Pyongyang. China simply won’t do anything that might undermine or destabilize the regime in Pyongyang, experts say, and Trump may be realizing this.
Instead, the U. S. administration seems to be preparing to go its own way. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that while the two sides agreed to work with each other and with the international community to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, they were focused entirely on previous commitments rather than any kind of new “package arrangement.”
More ominously, Tillerson said Trump had told Xi: “We would be happy to work with them, but we understand it creates unique problems for them and challenges and that we would be, and are, prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us.”
Whether that means stronger sanctions on Chinese companies doing business with North Korea, further efforts to improve missile defenses in South Korea and Japan, or even unilateral military action remains to be seen. But a senior administration official said this week “the clock is very, very quickly running out.” Trump’s missile strike on Syria may have made that warning a little more real.
2. Trump did not get much on trade — yet
Reducing the U. S. trade deficit with China is at the top of Trump’s agenda, and China now acknowledges the need for a “more balanced trade environment,” according to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Experts had predicted Xi would bring a package of promises and ideas to cut the deficit, but neither side appears ready yet to stake out detailed positions or air specific ideas in public. Nevertheless, the U. S. administration said there was now a sense of urgency and an expectation of action, with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross touting a 100-day plan to improve trade ties and boost cooperation as the “most significant” takeaway from the meeting.
