Donald Trump arrives in China for talks with President Xi Jinping | The World | ABC NEWS

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]It appears that Donald Trump is now stepping down off Air Force One coming into Beijing for the first time in 9 years. You can see the president hopping here into the Beijing air. The humid Beijing air, I will say, Yvonne. We have just started today Beijing's first heat wave of the season. It topped 34° today, but in the Beijing humidity it felt much closer to 40, I would say. And that heat There is a a nice breeze tonight. That heat is certainly still sticking around, but you can see there what looks like a lot of cheering and flag flag waving as Donald Trump descends Air Force One and gets onto the ground here in Beijing.

[00:00:46]As I was mentioning, it is a very different scenario now though for China.

[00:00:51]China has had massive ascendancy throughout its economic power, now becoming the second most powerful economy in the world, the second largest economy, but also its geopolitical standing. It has had a bevy of international leaders that have been lining up to come to China since the start of this year to reset, recalibrate, and rebuild relations that were broken off over the last decade or so. So, I think that gives you a really clear understanding of where China now sits in the global sphere. And I would also say that America is seen as a much more assertive and aggressive nation that it was in the past by China, but likewise China is also more assertive and aggressive than it was, say, 9 years ago. And Allison, we can see Donald Trump is really getting quite the welcoming there in Beijing. What's in store for the coming days? He's there until Friday?

[00:01:53]Yeah, a 2-day summit that will involve a number of bilateral meetings, including what is anticipated to be the major event of this summit, the meeting with China's President Xi Jinping. We expect then he's also going to go and tour the Temple of Heaven, this highly symbolic site in Beijing that's also a very popular tourist destination. I was actually out at the Temple of Heaven earlier today to get a sense of the security situation and what people are feeling on the ground, and I must tell you, Yvonne, that it was quite surprising just how quiet that area was. I'm sorry, I'm just watching the live feed and I can see people shouting, "Warm welcome. Warm welcome." to the president as he passes through those students.

[00:02:47]Out at the Temple of Heaven earlier today, the entire area was almost on lockdown. Tourists are not able to get into the site. And even in the streets surrounding there, it was quite eerie.

[00:02:58]Usually it would be teeming with tourists and Chinese residents alike, but today, for example, even the food vendors surrounding the Temple of Heaven on the outside, just a few meters away, they had closed up shop because there were so few people around. In fact, some of the only people that we saw in that area were tradesmen and workmen who were working on beautifying the area, painting the front of shops, trimming trees, and there was a massive security presence up near the US Embassy. I was there earlier today, as well. I could see barricades that had been set up all along the roads for what I anticipate will be road closures as Donald Trump's motorcade travels throughout the city tomorrow.

[00:03:47]And also, um, a number of security guards almost every 200 m I would pass a security guard. So, really tight security for this event. That is expected. This is considered to be a massive event, and a lot of people we talked to here in China have been quite warm towards the president. They have said that although he they consider him to be quite different from China's leader, that they are excited to have President Trump here in Beijing. And they say that they feel President Trump should take this opportunity to learn from Beijing. Now, I guess we will find out in the next couple of days exactly what comes to fruition there. Some analysts believe that there will not necessarily be any major breakthroughs, but as I said, the very fact that this meeting is happening at all will be considered a great win for the stability of these two consequential nations.

[00:04:48]Well, tell us a bit more about Before Donald Trump left, he said that he doesn't really need or alluded to the fact that he doesn't really need China's help where the conflict in Iran is concerned in the Strait of Hormuz and them trying to reopen it. But, in the lead-up to this, I understand US officials have been urging China to pressure Iran into reopening that Strait of Hormuz. It will be quite a key feature in this visit, won't it?

[00:05:19]Yeah, absolutely. Donald Trump may say that he won't expect China to end the war, but I think there's every possibility that this is going to be the top priority for conversations, which would be kind of disappointing for Donald Trump because when this meeting was first announced, the issue of Iran and a war in Iran wasn't on the cards. A week later, it was. And now it has dominated Donald Trump's time. It has consumed his energy, and some would say has drawn his focus away from paying attention to China in this region as well. So, coming here, there will be a lot of focus on Tehran. Also for China, it wants this war to end. A massive portion, almost half of China's crude oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:06:14]And the impact on the global economy is being felt here in China as well. So, it wants the war to end. China is Iran's most powerful political ally. So, it does have the ability to exert that power and exert that influence. But, I think we shouldn't automatically assume that that China wants to jump into this problematic and deeply unpopular war uh with any certainty. Uh if Xi Jinping may well relish the opportunity to present a statesman-like uh solution for Donald Trump and present himself as a leader that is able to resolve a conflict that Donald Trump appears to not be able to resolve. But, I think China would be pretty wary of getting bogged down in this war given its deep unpopularity. Uh and you can see there I'm not sure if you're still looking at the live feed, but the beast, now Donald Trump's personal car, is leaving on his way to his hotel uh in central Beijing, an area in the embassy district. Um but, there is no doubt on that issue of Iran that it will be raised here. Whether or not Beijing will agree to step in will be a different matter. And as I said before, I think if Beijing does decide to intervene in some way, it will want some concessions. That might be around Taiwan and this $11 billion arms package that the United States has promised to Taiwan. China wants that arms package axed. It would also like America to change its language around Taiwan and not support uh you know, come out and say that it doesn't support independence but Taiwan I think that that is highly unlikely to happen here.

[00:08:15]I don't foresee any major shifts in language um by America. And I think America as well won't want to spend too much time on the Taiwan issue. It really appears from that entourage that Donald Trump has brought with him that trade and the economy and trying to uh keep the stability of that economic relationship and even build on that economic relationship is where it appears Donald Trump's main focus will want to be.

[00:08:48]Okay, Allison. We'll leave it there for this evening. Thanks so much for updating us.

[00:08:54]We've just seen there Donald Trump arrive in Beijing for a historic visit that's expected to last a couple of days. Allison, thank you.