Trump says he will visit Beijing in April and host Xi for a state visit later next year

Trump and Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, last October

President Donald Trump said yesterday [Macau time] that he has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Beijing in April and that he reciprocated by inviting Xi for a state visit to the U.S. later next year.

Trump made the announcement after he spoke with Xi by phone nearly a month after the two leaders met in person in South Korea, saying they discussed issues including Ukraine, fentanyl and purchases of American soybeans.

“Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Beijing, which announced the phone call first, said nothing about the state visits but noted that the two leaders discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine.

Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s return to mainland China is “an integral part of the postwar international order,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said — a crucial issue to Beijing that Trump did not mention in his post.

The omissions from each side signal that sticking points remain for the two superpowers even as they highlight common ground following a series of talks to ease a trade war that has threatened the global economy.

The conversation came as China-Japan relations have plunged to a new low following recent remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She said the military in Japan, a key U.S. ally, could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule.

“My best guess is China is worried about the escalation (in tensions) with Japan. The reference to Taiwan and the post-World War II order directly points to the spat with Japan over Taiwan,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center. “They also talked about Ukraine. That is an issue China is interested in due to the new peace negotiation.”

China’s relations with Japan sour

Beijing has denounced Takaichi’s remarks, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying over the weekend that Japan “crossed a red line that should not have been touched.”

Xi told Trump yesterday that China and the U.S. should “jointly safeguard the victory of World War II” after they fought together against fascism. The U.S. has taken no side on the sovereignty of the self-governed island but is opposed to the use of force to seize Taiwan. It is obligated by a domestic law to provide sufficient hardware to the island to deter any armed attack.

Trump has maintained strategic ambiguity about whether he would send U.S. troops in case of a war in the Taiwan Strait. His administration has urged Taiwan to increase its defense budget.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it received official notification this month that the Trump administration approved $330 million in arms sales to Taiwan, including fighter jet parts. Beijing immediately protested, saying it “grossly violated” the so-called “One China” principle, because Taiwan is part of Chinese territory.

Trump said nothing publicly about Taiwan, whereas the Chinese statement said Trump told Xi that the U.S. “understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.”

Talk of Ukraine

The phone call coincided with the latest push by the Trump administration to end the war in Ukraine.

Xi expressed hope for a “fair, lasting and binding peace agreement” in Ukraine and said the crisis should be resolved “at its root,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Xi stressed Beijing’s support for “all efforts that are conducive to peace,” according to the statement.

However, Western governments have accused Beijing of enabling the war through its industrial support for Moscow.

Trump and Xi discussed trade

Trump said on social media that he spoke with Xi about “Fentanyl, Soybeans and other Farm Products, etc.”

“We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better,” Trump wrote.

Since he met Xi in South Korea in late October, “there has been significant progress on both sides in keeping our agreements current and accurate,” Trump said.

Since then, China has ordered nearly 2 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, ending a monthslong boycott, according to data by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is still short of the 12 million metric tons that the White House said China has agreed to buy before next year.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on CNBC that “every sign is their commitment remains true that they will indeed buy or purchase 12 million metric tons.”

The White House also said China pledged to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans in each of the next three years. China has yet to confirm such figures.

Beijing also placed export restrictions on 13 “drug-making” chemicals to the United States, Canada and Mexico.SEUNG MIN KIM & DIDI TANG, WASHINGTON,  MDT/AP