United States President Donald Trump will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a 2-day summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida next month, according to various media reports including CNN, which cited officials familiar with the matter.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Administration official told NBC news that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would finalize the meeting during his official trip throughout Asia, which includes a stop in China on March 19.
The Trump and Xi meeting will follow a series of official sessions executed to ease relations between the two countries following President Trump’s fierce criticism of China. During his pull-no-punches campaign, Trump accused Beijing of engaging in unfair business practices, manipulating currency, and militarizing the South China Sea, which remains a contested region between China and her neighbors – many of whom are U.S. allies.
Security interests and economic ties were among topics discussed between China’s State Councilor Yang Jiechi and officials in Washington including Trump and Tillerson.
Beyond Trump’s comments, the president was also angered China after taking an official phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, technically breaking decades-long tradition of non-official relations with Taiwan. Trump took it a step further by declaring the U.S. can always walk away from the One-China policy, which maintains Taiwan is under Chinese control. Trump later assured the U.S. would respect the doctrine during a phone call with Xi last month.
