Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Donald Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could trigger “clashes and even conflicts” between the two countries, as the leaders held wide-ranging talks on the Iran war, energy security and trade Thursday.
After concluding the first round of talks in Beijing, which lasted for around two hours, Trump invited Xi and his wife to the White House September 24, even as both leaders were in agreement that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened to support global energy needs.
China and the US have agreed on a “new vision” for building constructive bilateral ties, Xi said. “I have agreed with President Trump on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability.”
Xi said the “new vision” would provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond and should be welcomed by the people of both countries as well as the international community, official media reported.
He, however, stressed that the Taiwan question remained the most important issue in China-US relations.
If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship “will enjoy overall stability”, Xi said. Otherwise, the two countries could face “clashes and even conflicts”, putting bilateral ties in great jeopardy, the leader was quoted saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.
He urged the US to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan issue.
China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province that must eventually be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. It opposes formal diplomatic ties between Taipei and countries that recognise Beijing.
Since establishing diplomatic relations with modern China in 1979, the US has maintained unofficial ties with Taiwan and continued supplying arms to the island while formally acknowledging Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China without explicitly endorsing it.
According to statements released by the White House, the two leaders discussed expanding economic cooperation, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The two sides also discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation, including expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment in US industries, it said.
Leaders from several major American companies joined a portion of the meeting, according to the White House.
The leaders also highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursors into the US, while increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products, it said.
“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” the White House said, adding that Xi “made clear China’s opposition to the militarisation of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use”.
According to the White House statement, Xi also “expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future”.
“Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” the White House said.
The Strait of Hormuz – which is a major transit route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies – and Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain the two main sticking points in the ongoing peace talks between Iran and the US.
Earlier, Trump had described the meeting as “maybe the biggest summit ever”, saying the two countries would have a “fantastic future together”.
Calling Xi a “great leader”, Trump said the talks covered the Iran war, trade tensions, tariffs, technology and Taiwan.
Trump, who arrived in Beijing Wednesday, is accompanied by several top American business leaders, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple chief Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
This is the first visit to China by a US president in nine years. Trump himself was the last US president to visit the country in 2017 during his first term.
The meeting comes amid growing geopolitical tensions over the Iran conflict, renewed tariff disputes, export controls, rare earth supply chains and US arms sales to Taiwan.
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