Trump, China’s Xi to size each other up in talks
U.S. president says he wants to intertwine trade, North Korea
PALM BEACH, FLA. President Trump said Thursday he will focus on trade and North Korea in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago this week — and he’s optimistic about progress on North Korea.
“I think China will want to be stepping up,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Palm Beach for his first face-to-face meeting with the Chinese leader.
Trump landed Thursday with most of his top economic and national security officials in tow, then greeted the Chinese president and his wife for a formal dinner at the Palm Beach resort he owns.
In a day-and-a-half of meetings, the two leaders will set the tone for their relationship going forward. White House aides insist there’s no set script, but there is a long list of issues: In addition to the trade imbalance and North Korea’s nuclear provocations, the United States is expected to bring up Chinese attempts to exert control over the South China Sea.
“On areas of disagreement, including human rights and religious freedom, the United States will be firm in upholding our core values,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. But in keeping with Trump’s past practice of treading softly on those issues, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, “There are some things we’ll discuss in private.”
The White House has tried to tamp down any expectations for any major agreements, characterizing the meeting as an introductory session that could, at best, lead to a framework for future discussions.
The economic and national security issues are intertwined: Trump says he wants to use trade as a lever to get China to cut off North Korea’s access to outside markets. China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner, and North Korean coal exports to China are an important source of cash for its nuclear and missile programs.
“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible deals, trade deals with China for many, many years. So that’s one of the things we’re going to be talking about. The other thing, of course, is going to be North Korea, and somehow they will mix. They really do mix,” Trump said.
That could force other issues to the back burner, as the two leaders size each other up and figure out if they can do business.
“It’s what comes after this meeting that matters,” said Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest, the foreign policy think tank formerly known as the Nixon Center. And for the Chinese, that could mean long after.
“The way Western diplomats think of things is the one- or two- or, God forbid, five-year horizon,” he said. “The Chinese are thinking 50, 100, 200 years out. The Chinese goal is very clear, and that is to make sure they are the dominant power over the AsiaPacific and, eventually over time, over the United States.
“To do those things, they really need to get a measure of who is Donald Trump,” he said. “Who is this guy? Is he ... a guy who we can deal with on a transactional basis, or is he crazy?”
For Xi, it’s important that the Chinese see him as “going on equal terms” with the American president, said Anthony Saich of Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo professor of International Affairs.
“President Xi needs to be able to show that he can deal with President Trump. There is more risk of a downside for Xi than for Trump,” he said.
Both men would benefit from a close working relationship, but it remains to be seen whether their egos will allow it, Saich said. “I do not expect a Reagan-Gorbachev moment,” he said. “The postmeeting tweets will be indicative.”