Trump touts ‘very good’ call with Xi | Kuwait Times Newspape...

Trump touts ‘very good’ call with Xi | Kuwait Times Newspaper

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he held a “very good” phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday during which the leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, fentanyl trafficking and a deal for farmers. “We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better. Our relationship with China is extremely strong!,” he said in a Truth Social post. Trump also said he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit China in April and that Xi would visit the US later in the year. Earlier on Monday, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported that the two leaders spoke. The agency described Taiwan as being prominent during the call, but Trump’s statement did not refer to the issue. “Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday clarified China’s principled position on the Taiwan issue in a telephone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump,” the agency said. “Xi stressed that Taiwan’s return to China is an important part of the post-war international order.” China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of it, though the island’s government rejects Beijing’s claim and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. China is locked in its biggest diplomatic crisis for years with Japan, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo. Xi and Trump met in South Korea on October 30 following months of trade tensions triggered by Trump’s tariff policies. China has since resumed purchases of US soybeans and halted its expanded curbs on rare earths exports, while the US lowered tariffs on China by 10 percent. Xi said that China-US ties have stabilized and improved since their meeting. “The facts again show that cooperation benefits both sides while confrontation hurts both,” Reuters reported Xi as saying. He urged the two countries to maintain positive momentum and expand cooperation. The two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine, with Xi reiterating that China supports all efforts conducive to peace while calling on all parties to narrow their differences. — Agencies

“Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday clarified China’s principled position on the Taiwan issue in a telephone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump,” the agency said. “Xi stressed that Taiwan’s return to China is an important part of the post-war international order.”

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of it, though the island’s government rejects Beijing’s claim and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. China is locked in its biggest diplomatic crisis for years with Japan, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Xi and Trump met in South Korea on October 30 following months of trade tensions triggered by Trump’s tariff policies. China has since resumed purchases of US soybeans and halted its expanded curbs on rare earths exports, while the US lowered tariffs on China by 10 percent.

Xi said that China-US ties have stabilized and improved since their meeting. “The facts again show that cooperation benefits both sides while confrontation hurts both,” Reuters reported Xi as saying. He urged the two countries to maintain positive momentum and expand cooperation. The two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine, with Xi reiterating that China supports all efforts conducive to peace while calling on all parties to narrow their differences. — Agencies