Trump lands in China for high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping, as Iran war looms over talks | China

Donald Trump arrived in Beijing, the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, as he seeks to repair his power and prestige weakened by the war in Iran.

Trump raised his fist, walked down the stairs of Air Force One and walked the red carpet with 300 young Chinese dressed in light blue and white, waving red flags and chanting welcome. He was welcomed Wednesday evening by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, as well as a military band and an honor guard.

Trump was accompanied by his son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara as well as technology executives including Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of chipmaker Nvidia. The US president is eyeing headline-grabbing deals and predicted that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, would “give me a big, big hug when I get there.”

But the Middle East conflict that Trump started, and appears unable to end, will cast a shadow over two days of negotiations amid fears he will be tempted to weaken U.S. support for Taiwan, China’s claimed self-governing democracy, in return for Xi’s aid.

“I don’t think we need any help with Iran,” Trump told reporters before leaving the White House on Tuesday. “We will win one way or another, peacefully or not.”

He also sought to downplay divisions with Beijing, saying Xi had been “relatively good” during the crisis and insisting Washington had “Iran very much under control.”

The war has entered its third month, with Tehran tightening its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and Washington struggling to turn a fragile ceasefire into a lasting settlement.

Behind the scenes, U.S. officials have spent weeks urging China — Iran’s biggest oil customer and one of the few powers with influence in Tehran — to pressure the Islamic Republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes, while agreeing to U.S. peace terms.

The United States recently sanctioned several Chinese companies accused of aiding Iranian oil shipments and providing satellite imagery that was allegedly used in Iranian military operations. China condemned the measures as “illegal unilateral sanctions” and invoked a rarely used blocking law barring Chinese entities from complying with them.

Chinese officials have publicly called for stability while carefully avoiding overtly aligning with Washington. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi received his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing last week and defended Iran’s right to develop civilian nuclear energy.

Xi also made implicit criticism of the United States over the war. He said safeguarding the international rule of law is paramount, adding that it “must not be selectively applied or ignored,” nor should the world be allowed to return “to the law of the jungle.”

Yet neither side appears willing to let the Iran crisis derail broader diplomatic and economic engagement in the first of four potential meetings between Trump and Xi over the next year.

The two countries remain locked in a fragile tariff truce reached last fall after tensions threatened to escalate into a full-scale trade war. Trump has long complained about China’s trade surplus with the United States, while Beijing has resented U.S. controls and sanctions on exports.

White House officials said Trump would travel with a delegation of more than a dozen U.S. business leaders, including Musk and Cook, a sign that the two governments still seek economic cooperation despite their strategic rivalry.

A sale of 500 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, one of the largest orders in its history, will be announced during the trip, the Bloomberg news agency reported. Trump and Xi will also discuss creating a new chamber of commerce to manage what China should buy from the United States and vice versa.

Beijing also has reasons to avoid escalation. China’s economy remains weighed down by sluggish domestic demand and a prolonged real estate crisis, while the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed its heavy dependence on energy supplies from the Middle East.

Trump’s trip to Taiwan will be closely scrutinized for any signs of weakening US support. On Monday, he said he would speak to Xi about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a departure from the U.S.’s historic insistence that it would not consult Beijing on its support for the island.

He also insisted that his personal relationship with Xi would prevent a Chinese invasion of the island. “I think everything will be fine,” he said. “I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want this to happen.”

Another potential focus will be AI, with both countries facing calls to cooperate on global standards and safeguards. Bernie Sanders, an independent US senator, urged Trump and Xi to agree to allow top scientists to share technical information and develop “AI red lines” on dangerous behavior.

Sanders said: “At the height of the Cold War, Reagan and Gorbachev found a way to negotiate nuclear arms control. The existential risk posed by AI demands nothing less from Trump and Xi.”

In Beijing, security was visibly tightened ahead of the visit, with police stationed at major intersections and increased checks on the subway.

The summit itinerary includes a formal welcome ceremony, private meetings between the two leaders and a visit to the Temple of Heaven, a 15th-century religious complex symbolizing the relationship between Earth and heaven. Trump will attend a state banquet Thursday evening, then have tea and a working lunch with Xi on Friday before leaving.

The US president, who has been criticized for emphasizing foreign policy over domestic concerns during his second term, will be eager to project strength and present his trip as a victory.

Anna Kelly, the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on a call Sunday: “President Trump cares about results, not symbols. But even so, the president has an excellent relationship with President Xi, and the upcoming summit in Beijing will be both symbolic and substantively meaningful.”

But the American approach will likely be pragmatic and transactional, with little focus on structural reforms. Scott Kennedy, senior adviser for Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said: “China and Xi Jinping come to this meeting in a much stronger position than the United States.

“China has goals it would like: extending the ceasefire, reducing technological restrictions on semiconductor imports, and lowering tariffs. But even if it doesn’t get much done on these issues, as long as there is no explosion at the meeting and President Trump doesn’t walk away and seek further escalation, China comes out fundamentally stronger.”