Trump to challenge China on trade and N Korea
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump was expected to push China on trade and North Korea during his two-day visit.
White House insiders view Mr Trump’s visit as the centrepiece of his lengthy Asia tour.
The US leader, mired in consistently low approval ratings at home, was due to encounter newly emboldened Chinese president Xi Jinping, who recently consolidated power in his country.
Mr Trump’s every utterance will be studied by allies anxious to see if his inward-looking “America First” mantra could cede power in the region to China.
Before arriving in Beijing yesterday, Mr Trump used an address to the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, to deliver a stern message to China, North Korea’s biggest trade partner.
He urged “responsible nations” to unite and stop supporting North Korea. “You cannot support, you cannot supply, you cannot accept,” he said, calling on “every nation, including China and Russia” to fully implement recent UN Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang.
Mr Trump was expected to demand that China curtail its dealings with the North and expel North Korean workers.
He has praised China for taking some steps against Pyongyang but urged them to do more, as administration officials believe the border between China and North Korea remains a trade corridor.
He said: “I want to just say that President Xi – where we will be tomorrow, China – has been very helpful. We’ll find out how helpful soon. But he really has been very, very helpful. So China is out trying very hard to solve the problem with North Korea.”
The White House was banking on Mr Trump’s personal rapport with Mr Xi to drive the ne- gotiations. The US president has frequently showered praise on Mr Xi, who recently became the nation’s most powerful leader in decades, and has taken a trip to Mr Trump’s Florida estate.
Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump were greeted at the airport by dozens of children who waved US and Chinese flags.
They sipped tea with Mr Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, received a private tour of the Forbidden City, Beijing’s imperial palace.
US and Chinese companies signed business deals valued at nine billion US dollars during the visit in a traditional move aimed at blunting criticism of Beijing’s trade practices.
China’s biggest online retailer said it pledged to buy American beef and pork worth 1.2bn dollars, but no other details were released of the 19 agreements signed at a ce remony attended by US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross.