The White House officially announced on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in South Korea. The announcement ends any doubts or rumors about the meeting that had come up after trade tensions between Washington and Beijing rose sharply. This will be the first time the two leaders have met in person since President Trump’s second term began.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Trump will leave for his trip to several countries late on Friday night. She also gave a full timetable of the President’s travels. The long trip will include stops in three important Asian countries for diplomatic purposes: Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.
The Plan: APEC Summit and Important Bilaterals
The diplomatic swing starts on Sunday in Malaysia, where President Trump will meet with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and have a working dinner with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
After his trip to Southeast Asia, the President will fly to Tokyo on Monday. He will talk with Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday.
President Trump’s last stop on his tour will be South Korea on Wednesday. He will meet with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, give a keynote speech at a lunch for CEOs that is part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit, and have a working dinner with U.S.-APEC leaders.
The most exciting part of the journey will be the meeting with President Xi Jinping, which is set to take place on Thursday morning local time in South Korea, right after Trump’s speech at the APEC CEO Summit. Press Secretary Leavitt said, “On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will meet with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China for a bilateral meeting before leaving to go home.”
The Trade War and the Fentanyl Issue
In early October, the US-China trade conflict, which had been going on for months, flared up again when Beijing said it would greatly expand restrictions on the export of rare-earth minerals. President Trump quickly threatened to retaliate with extra tariffs and other actions after this happened.
President Trump has recently been more positive, even if his top trade negotiator and finance chief have been acting hostile and aggressive. They went to Asia on Wednesday to help get ready for the negotiations. About the meeting with Xi, he said on Thursday, “I think we’re going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy.”
But President Trump made it plain that a non-trade issue would be at the top of his list of things to do right away. Trump said, “I’m putting it right at the front of the list,” and “The first question I’m going to ask him about is fentanyl.” Washington has long said that Beijing isn’t doing enough to stop the export of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, which is a major cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. Beijing has defended its record and said that Washington is using the issue to “blackmail” China. The White House has also said that the flow of these chemicals is a reason to raise tariffs on some Chinese imports.