Xi Jinping and Donald Trump had a friendly, two-hour phone call last night. But both Beijing and Washington are determined to become less vulnerable to one another.
‘We all face the same vulnerability’
It was, according to Trump, an excellent call, “long and thorough” and ranging over everything from trade to Taiwan, Iran and Ukraine. Three months after their meeting in South Korea and in advance of the United States president’s planned visit to China in April, Trump and Xi appear to be getting along well.
“The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way. I believe that there will be many positive results achieved over the next three years of my Presidency having to do with President Xi, and the People’s Republic of China,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site.
Xi noted during the call that he and Trump had stayed in touch since their meeting in South Korea, when they agreed a year-long truce in their trade war. It wasn’t all smiles, however, and Xi warned Trump to be careful about arms sales to Taiwan, which he said Beijing would never allow to be separated from China.
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“The US has its concerns, and China has its concerns. China is true to its word and delivers on its promises. As long as both sides uphold the principles of equality, respect, and mutual benefit and move towards each other, we can find ways to resolve each other’s concerns,” Xi said.
While the two leaders were speaking, the Trump administration was hosting a meeting in Washington aimed at robbing China of one of its most powerful levers in trade disputes, its near-monopoly on some critical minerals used in advanced manufacturing. Over the past year, Beijing has used export controls over these minerals to put pressure on trade partners, including the US and the European Union.
The EU and Japan were among those represented in Washington yesterday when vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio proposed that the US and its allies work together to secure an independent supply of the minerals. The idea is that the US, Japan and the European Commission should develop co-ordinated trade policies, including price floors, to make alternative critical minerals supply chains economically viable.
“I think every single one of us represented in this room has become dependent on arrangements we did not choose, and right now, arrangements that we cannot control. We all face the same vulnerability: access to the things that protect our people and sustain our way of life – everything from missile defence systems to energy infrastructure, to advanced manufacturing, and to emerging technologies – the fundamental supply chains that support these industries sometimes can vanish in the blink of an eye without any control or influence from many of the countries in this room,” Vance said.
Xi was cultivating his friends too on Wednesday, holding a lengthy video call with Vladimir Putin during which they reaffirmed the “friendship without limits” between China and Russia. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said after the call that Putin and Xi also exchanged views about their countries’ relations with the US, noting that they “practically coincide”.
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