US President Trump Heading to China｜TaiwanPlus News

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]US President Donald Trump is headed to China where he'll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time in more than 6 months. A lot has changed in that time, especially the start of a US-Israeli war with Iran that's led to major global fuel shortages. But Trump is upbeat, telling a crowd of reporters Iran might not come up at all and that US-China ties are in good shape. We're doing very well with China and working with China has been very good.

[00:00:28]So, we look forward to it. As you know, President Xi will be coming here before the end of the year. So, that'll be exciting, too. I only wish we had the ballroom finished. The ballroom is right on budget and ahead of schedule, but But there's friction, too.

[00:00:43]US tariffs, including a 10% fentanyl tariff, remain in place.

[00:00:48]And then there are issues like Taiwan, which China claims, but which gets US support, including with arms sales.

[00:00:55]Analysts have a range of perspectives on what might come out of this meeting.

[00:00:59]With the US under Trump more ambiguous about Taiwan, some don't believe Taiwan will be a major topic, perhaps not as big a focus as Iran.

[00:01:07]I expect the Chinese will bring it up, try to see if they can, you know, get the president to agree to something. I'd be very surprised, though, if we see something significant come out of this summit on Taiwan. Uh you know, including the arms sale Others agree Taiwan will come up, but the desire on both sides for diplomacy might keep the tone muted. Uh and so I think you've seen a willingness on both sides to avoid some of the most sensitive uh things that could derail the the summit.

[00:01:37]You know, this summit has already been uh delayed once due to the war in Iran.

[00:01:41]So, I think that there's a desire to ensure that, you know, the meetings continue to take place and that both sides can have these conversations once they get there.

[00:01:49]Some analysts in China expect a focus on repairing the US-China trade relationship instead, with a potential for big Chinese orders of US products like aircraft. I think very much we're likely to see this kind of a big deal.

[00:02:04]Um, President Trump wants to promote American products, and I think to him it is already a big win. Uh, I would expect uh a fairly large uh purchase order from China in this case.

[00:02:16]Um, based on which President Trump can really boast about his achievement. His achievement. In Beijing, there is both hope for rapprochement with the world's other major power.

[00:02:44]And a sense of confidence that in the decade or so since Trump's last visit, China has built up the strength to hold its own against its strategic rival.

[00:03:04]Trump's visit to China will be brief, only around a day and a half. But in that window, Trump and Xi will try and steer one of the world's most critical diplomatic relationships through an unstable world.

[00:03:15]Clive Wang and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.