Trump to Visit China Again After 9 Years; Scholar: US-China Relations Have Qualitatively Changed

Central News Agency (Reporter Zhang Shuling, Beijing, May 12) — US President Trump will visit China again after nine years. Chinese scholars point out that compared to 2017, US-China relations have undergone a qualitative change, and China's confidence in dealing with the US has strengthened. This 'Trump-Xi meeting' is most likely to achieve results in the economic and trade fields, while the Taiwan issue is not expected to see major changes.

Trump is expected to visit China from the 13th to the 15th, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 14th. This will be his first visit to China during his second term; his last visit was in November 2017, less than a year after he first took office as US President.

Da Wei, director of the Center for Strategic and Security Studies and professor of international relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the Central News Agency that China's goal for this Trump-Xi meeting is still to maintain overall stability in US-China relations. However, compared to 2017, US-China relations have changed significantly.

He said that in 2017, everyone was at the end of the globalization era, still hoping to maintain the US-China relations that began in the 1990s, which involved more economic and trade cooperation and a US engagement policy towards China. But now, many in both the US and China believe this is no longer possible, and the fundamental nature of US-China relations has become a competitive bilateral relationship.

Another change is China's further strengthening of its capabilities. Although the basic situation of 'US strong, China weak' has not changed much, the confidence of the Chinese people has become stronger.

The US-China trade war began in 2018, and relations started to deteriorate. Da Wei said that at that time, most people were unsure whether China could continue to develop, worrying that China's economy and technology would face significant problems. Now, most people feel that even if some problems arise in US-China relations, China can still maintain its momentum of innovation and development, and the US cannot completely suppress China's development.

He said this is a significant change over the past nine years, and under the new nature of US-China relations, China's confidence in dealing with the US has become stronger.

Regarding what can be achieved at this Trump-Xi meeting, Da Wei believes that the main achievements will still be in economic and trade areas. Two days before the Trump-Xi meeting, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was in South Korea on the 12th and 13th to discuss economic and trade matters with the US side, indicating that both sides hope to achieve something. Furthermore, China's procurement from the US is a relatively simple way to improve bilateral relations, and China can also benefit.

He stated that the Taiwan issue is more complex and sensitive, and given Trump's unpredictability, China will not 'trade' for a single word from Trump, but China will certainly reiterate its interests and position. A more prominent short-term issue is US arms sales to Taiwan, which may be discussed at this Trump-Xi meeting, but the Taiwan issue should not see structural changes.

As for the issue of opening the Strait of Hormuz amid the US attack on Iran, he said that Iran is an area where the US and China can cooperate concretely, and cooperation has already begun. It is highly likely that both sides will state principles at this Trump-Xi meeting and then continue to work together to address the issue.

Da Wei said that considering Trump and Xi Jinping will have several more opportunities to meet this year, the importance of this Trump-Xi meeting is that it is the first meeting this year, and concrete results will be relatively limited. (Editor: Chou Hui-ying) 1150512

Choose to stand with facts; every sponsorship you provide is a force for protecting press freedom.

Download the Central News Agency's "First-hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.

The text, images, and audio-visual content on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.