Trump-Xi Meet: Beijing, Taiwan Residents Share Their Expectations | FP Video

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:01]As US President Donald Trump heads to China for a closely watched summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, people in Beijing and Taiwan are watching the high-stakes meeting with a mix of hope, caution, and uncertainty.

[00:00:16]In Beijing, security has tightened ahead of Trump's first visit to China in 9 years. But as the two leaders prepare for handshakes and carefully choreographed photo ops, many ordinary residents remain deeply skeptical about what the visit will actually achieve.

[00:00:33]One Beijing resident bluntly described Trump as not trustworthy.

[00:00:39]He's not trustworthy. He's like, what, 80 years old now? He's quite old. He sure loves to stir things up. He's always getting into conflicts with other countries and stuff. Honestly, I have a really bad impression of him.

[00:00:53]Others, however, expressed cautious optimism that the summit could still produce some good policies.

[00:01:00]I don't know if he's genuinely sincere about this, but speaking as a Chinese person and as someone working in trade, I just hope some good policies can come out of this.

[00:01:10]My job involves imports and exports, so tariffs hit us really hard. Anything related to US-China relations or US-China policies, we pay very close attention to all of that.

[00:01:24]The Trump-Xi meeting scheduled for May 14th and 15th comes at a particularly tense moment in relations between the world's two biggest economies.

[00:01:33]Trade disputes, technology wars, tariffs, and military tensions over Taiwan continue to dominate the relationship.

[00:01:41]Adding even more star power to the visit, more than a dozen of top American business leaders are expected to accompany Trump.

[00:01:50]According to reports, the guest list includes Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and Jensen Huang.

[00:01:57]But if Beijing is approaching the summit with caution, Taiwan is watching the outright anxiety.

[00:02:04]Across the self-ruled island, residents fear Taiwan could once again become the geopolitical football in a superpower rivalry.

[00:02:14]If he, US President Donald Trump, really goes to meet with Xi Jinping, it should be to improve the lives of ordinary people and make the country better. It would be pointless if each meeting created a bunch of new problems. That's my personal feeling.

[00:02:31]Others were less hopeful.

[00:02:35]Their positions, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are different.

[00:02:40]Both prioritize their own countries' interests. This is of no benefit to Taiwan. Taiwan is definitely being used as a pawn. I think Taiwan has always been used as a chess piece, a bargaining chip.

[00:02:56]Among younger Taiwanese, there was also little belief that the summit would produce any dramatic breakthrough.

[00:03:04]They, Trump and Xi, will likely reach a quid pro quo. If they could have reached an agreement in one meeting previously, they wouldn't need to meet again now.

[00:03:12]It's not like Trump and Xi are new to office.

[00:03:16]For now, the summit looks like a high-stakes diplomatic poker game, one where every handshake is analyzed, every word dissected, and every silence interpreted.

[00:03:28]And while presidents, billionaires, and diplomats prepare for a closed-door meetings in Beijing, millions across China and Taiwan are left wondering what will happen.

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