The Tamesis
Chinese President Xi Jinping called U.S. President Donald Trump again on Wednesday, urging him to be “cautious” in dealing with Taiwan.
One of the key messages in their first call since November was to remind the United States not to cross any of Beijing’s “red lines” over the self-ruled island, which Xi Jinping has vowed to reunite with the mainland.
“President Xi Jinping emphasized that the Taiwan issue is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a briefing.
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“China must safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity and never allow Taiwan to split. The United States must carefully handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan.”
Despite their many differences, the leaders of the world’s two largest countries appear to be working to stabilize relations.
Washington’s intervention in Venezuela, engagement with Iran and efforts to build up a stockpile of critical minerals, known as Project Vault, are other issues of potential friction.
But Taiwan is Beijing’s biggest concern as U.S. lawmakers said last month they would Supplies US$11 billion worth of weapons to Taipeiits largest arms sales program in history.
Late Wednesday, Trump posted on the Truth Social website that his call with Xi was “very good” and “thorough” and covered many topics.
They also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, “the current situation with Iran” and China’s purchases of U.S. oil and natural gas, Trump wrote.
He said he was looking forward to a trip to China in April and that Beijing was considering buying up to 20 million tons of U.S. soybeans this season. Experts later said they were not sure if this was possible.
The meeting also discussed the delivery of airline engines.
“New nuclear weapons deal under discussion with Russia”
Trump’s call to Xi came hours after the Chinese president held a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Russian diplomatic adviser later said that Xi Jinping and Putin were trying to ensure that their positions on Iran, Venezuela and Cuba remained consistent.
More positive news followed, with reports that the United States and Russia were close to reaching an agreement to comply with the New START Treaty, which is due to expire today (February 5).
Axios cited three sources familiar with the negotiations held in Abu Dhabi as saying the new deal would set limits on both sides’ missiles, launchers and strategic warheads.
It would be the last in a series of nuclear deals spanning more than half a century of the Cold War, Reuters said.
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