Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to his US counterpart Donald Trump again on Wednesday and urged him to be “prudent” — careful — in his dealings with Taiwan.
One of the key messages in their first call since November was a reminder for the US not to cross any of Beijing’s “red lines” in regard to self-ruled island, which Xi has vowed to reunite with the mainland.
“President Xi emphasised that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” China’s foreign ministry said in a readout of their call.
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“China must safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will never allow Taiwan to be separated. The US must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence.”
Leaders of the world’s two biggest powers appear to be trying to stabilize relations despite many points of difference.
Washington’s intervention in Venezuela, its dealings with Iran, and its initiative to set up a stockpile of critical minerals – a move that has been dubbed ‘Project Vault’ – are other matters of potential friction.
But Taiwan is the issue of greatest concern for Beijing, given US lawmakers said last month they would supply $11 billion worth of arms to Taipei, its largest-ever arms sales package.
Late on Wednesday, Trump put a post on Truth Social that said his call with Xi – which covered many topics – was “excellent” and “thorough.”
They also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, “the current situation with Iran” and China buying oil and gas from the US, 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 US soybeans in the current season. Experts said later they were not sure if that was possible.
There was also talk about airline engine deliveries.
‘New nukes deal being discussed with Russia’
Trump’s call to Xi came hours after the Chinese president had a video chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Russian foreign affairs adviser said after that Xi and Putin sought to make sure their positions on Iran, Venezuela and Cuba were in alignment.
Later, there was more positive news, with reports that the US and Russia are closing in on a deal to observe a new START nuclear arms control treaty, which is set to expire today (Feb 5).
The new deal will set limits on each side’s missiles, launchers and strategic warheads, according to Axios, which cited three sources familiar with the talks, held in Abu Dhabi.
This would be the last in a series of nuclear agreements dating back more than half a century to the Cold War, Reuters said.
- Jim Pollard
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