US President DonaldTrump is set to landin Beijing fora meeting with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping in his first visit to the country since 2017.
The visit will include talks between the leaders of the two superpowers, a banquet and a visit to the Temple of Heaven. Trump told reporters before leaving for China that he would have a"long talk" about Chinese ally Iranwith Xi.
Beijing has joined Pakistan as a mediator in the conflict between the US and Iran, which sparked after the US andIsraelcarried out joint strikes on several key Iranian sites on February 28. Iran retaliated by striking sites across the Middle East and closing the critical Strait of Hormuz trade route.
The meeting will also provide the stage for dialogue between the world's number one and number two economies on a series of other topics, with Trump ally and billionaire businessmanElon Muskaccompanying the US president.
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US PresidentDonald Trumpspoke to reporters before departing for China.
Speaking on the Iran war, Trump said Americans' financial situation was "not even a little bit" of a factor for him in achieving a peace plan with Iran.
Trump told reporters: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all."
Donald Trump is scheduled to land in China at 3am UK time on Wednesday for a summit withXi Jinpingthat analysts are calling one of the defining diplomatic encounters of his presidency.
Washington's attention has been elsewhere for much of the past year - consumed by the Iran conflict, operations in the Western Hemisphere and domestic political battles - but Beijing moves to centre stage this week. Global trade, the Taiwan question and the race for technological supremacy are all on the table.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
