Xi Jinping, received with great respect by Donald Trump, took advantage of his visit to the White House to plead, Thursday, September 24, for peaceful coexistence between the two rival superpowers, while reaffirming his red lines on Taiwan.
The Chinese president’s three-day state visit reached its social climax with a gala dinner to which, on the American side, the bosses of the largest companies were invited, with a particular emphasis on tech (Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Tesla and OpenAI were represented).
Demonstrators raised their voices when the American president and Melania Trump received Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on the steps of the White House. “Liberate Hong Kong” or even “Xi Jinping is not welcome”, they chanted, contrasting with the well-oiled course of the day, intended to confirm the fragile détente between China and the United States.
Making a toast, Donald Trump wished for a “future of harmony” for the two countries. “President Xi and I understand that we represent different systems, but the ties between our peoples endure,” said the 80-year-old billionaire, accused by his opponents of giving privileged treatment to authoritarian leaders. He also promised his guest a visit to his most important and most criticized project, that of a future ballroom at the White House.
“New chapter in friendly relations”
The Chinese president raised his glass to a “new chapter in the friendly relations” of the two superpowers.
In the morning, Donald Trump assured that he had built a relationship of “great friendship” with Xi Jinping. The Chinese president called for “coexistence in peace”. Washington and Tehran must resolve their differences “as quickly as possible” through negotiation, he also said, according to comments reported by the state agency New China. China, an ally of Iran, is suffering the fallout from the conflict started by the Republican billionaire.
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Xi Jinping also issued a warning about Taiwan, calling on Washington to be “cautious” and urging the United States to explicitly oppose the island’s independence, according to the same source, which would be a break with the deliberately ambiguous position long adopted by Washington. China has not ruled out taking control of Taiwan by force, which it considers to be an integral part of its territory and which the United States supports militarily.
Xi Jinping also said in his speech that Beijing and Washington had both “the capabilities and the responsibility” to develop artificial intelligence while keeping it under “human control”. Shortly before, Donald Trump had affirmed on his Truth Social network that he wanted to remain “exactly at the current stage” in terms of regulating this technology, around which China and the United States are engaged in fierce competition. This status quo approach is, according to him, “also China’s position”.
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The American president is organizing this visit a few weeks before the mid-term elections which are off to a bad start for his party. Dissatisfied with the conflict in the Middle East, voters accuse him of ignoring their difficulties in making ends meet.
Donald Trump ‘has an innate attraction to dictators’
Donald Trump gave Xi Jinping a lavish welcome, with a fanfare in period costume, demonstrations by soldiers in full uniform and a flyover by combat planes. The American president, who welcomed his guest at the airport on Wednesday, an extremely rare occurrence, “has an innate attraction to dictators”, denounced the leader of the Democratic senators Chuck Schumer.
Xi Jinping did not bring business leaders to the banquet, to which Frenchman Bernard Arnault (LVMH) was invited. But he announced that a pair of giant pandas, emblematic mammals of Chinese diplomacy, would arrive in a few days at the Atlanta Zoo, as a “symbol of friendship”.
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This is Xi Jinping’s first visit to the White House in more than ten years, and his third meeting with Donald Trump since the latter returned to power. The Chinese president’s visit to Washington will end on Friday after tea at the White House and then a visit by the two presidential couples to the American National Archives.
With AFP
