Donald Trump met with Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, for two days of talks starting on Thursday. Prior the meeting, tensions were high due to a series of Twitter attacks by the US president on his Chinese counterpart, including two years earlier when Xi visited the US. Trump criticised Obama for ‘rolling out the red carpet’ whilst China ‘raped’ American businesses and jobs. However, Trump greeted Xi and treated him to a candlelit steak dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Whilst they met and talked business, cooperation and friendship between the two super powers.
Trump had ordered a cruise missile attack on Syria in response to the chemical weapons attack.
Trump’s reaction to prove beneficial?
The attack itself will most likely to become beneficial for the US president because with him attacking Xi and China over their trade deficit with the US. But Xi has been aware that China’s growth is greater than the US’s and it is likely that they will overtake America as the world super power. One of the issues that has been heavily mentioned in the build-up to the summit with China, is the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear armament.
There is a significant chance that Trump’s reaction to the escalated crisis in Syria, with tensions between the US and Russia growing, could benefit him and his relationship with Xi and China.
Whether this was a strategy or an accident remains to be seen. Trump has a record of ‘pressing the red button’ on Twitter over something he dislikes but this is the first time when he has reacted this way in response to an issue such as this and it was chemical attacks that horribly maimed children that he said had “crossed the line.” President Xi was in agreement with Trump over the attack and the reaction by the US president could show that he is a ‘strong leader.’
A developing friendship?
The reaction over Syria could prove to have been a key point because recently Trump has stated that he would do something about North Korea, even if it were to be the US alone.
With worries over what Kim Jong-Un is planning within the state after further missile tests by the secret state recently. Xi has expressed his concerns over their neighbours.
But the Trump administration is deeply mistrusting in the Chinese and they are seen to be economic and business rivals rather than friends; Trump was unusually sedate when offering a handshake to the Chinese president after previous boisterous attempts with other world leaders, matched only by Canada’s Justin Trudeau.
Xi will be hoping that The Trump administration can help them tackle the problems with North Korea and whilst the talks looked cordial when in public but could have easily have been tense in private. Trump said afterwards “I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away” however, President Xi stated “We have engaged in deeper understanding, and have built a trust” further adding “I believe we will keep developing in a stable way to form friendly relations.”
Delicate relationship
This could be the beginning of a very interesting relationship between the two largest economies, however, Trump will have to be careful how he tweets in the future and what his administration do to hinder Chinese investment in America.
The talks have only begun to repair the damage done by Trump and how he has reacted previously to China and at this stage remain delicate.
With China open about their concern over North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, they are still reluctant to do anything about their close allies and trade partner. Donald Trump has recently stated that the US would do something about it if China failed to act, this could have a significant bearing on the future relationship with China.
