President Donald Trump talks with China's President Xi Jinping at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound, Friday, in Beijing. Reuters-Yonhap
BEIJING — When U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing this week, their cordial exchange of pleasantries, a firm handshake and emphasis on cooperation fueled cautious optimism about relations between the two superpowers.
However, the lack of clear breakthroughs on complex issues, including the status of Taiwan, underscored the persistent challenges facing the Sino-U.S. relationship amid increasingly intensifying competition over trade, security and technological leadership.
Above all, the latest Trump-Xi summit drove home one clear message: The leaders of the world's most powerful nations remain on speaking terms and plan to meet several more times this year alone, including during Xi's anticipated reciprocal visit to Washington in September.
"When there were difficulties, we worked it out. I would call you, and you would call me," Trump said at the start of the talks with Xi on Thursday. "Whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly, and we are going to have a fantastic future together."
Xi struck a cooperative tone, stressing that the United States and China should be "partners, not rivals."
"China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation," he said in his remarks translated through an interpreter.
"We should help each other succeed and prosper together, and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era."
Friday's summit venue, Zhongnanhai, added to the mood of Sino-U.S. cooperation.
Zhongnanhai is the central leadership compound of China's top leaders. Situated close to the Forbidden City, it was where U.S. President Richard Nixon met Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1972 to lay the groundwork for Sino-U.S. detente.
Source: Korea Times News
