US President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform that he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in China on May 14-15. This marks the first visit by a US president to China in nearly 10 years. Trump also plans to host Xi in Washington DC later this year, but these visits were delayed due to the US-Israel war with Iran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the dates of Trump's visit, stating that Xi had understood and accepted the request to postpone the trip. However, Beijing has not officially confirmed the dates listed by Trump, as China typically does not reveal Xi's schedule far in advance. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said both sides are maintaining communication regarding Trump's visit to China.
Trump's trip was originally scheduled for March 31 but was postponed after the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran last month, killing the country's supreme leader. In response, Iran attacked Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz—a key waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas—leading to a global fuel crisis. Trump has urged US allies to help unblock the strait and threatened Iran with attacks on its energy production infrastructure if full access through the waterway is not allowed.
The last time a US president visited China was in November 2017, during Trump's first term. Trump and Xi last met in October last year in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit. Relations between the two countries have long been plagued by sore spots ranging from trade friction to tech competition and geopolitical tensions. Trump's visit will be closely watched for any signs of easing tensions.
Ahead of Trump's visit, Chinese state media has encouraged US officials to visit and interact with their Chinese counterparts. A Global Times editorial published on Thursday said the lack of people-to-people exchanges between the countries and the long absence of a US presidential visit to China is "abnormal and should not be the case." It added, "History has repeatedly shown that both China and the US stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation."
Source: www.bbc.com