After receiving the Chinese president at the airport, Trump finally met with Xi Jinping yesterday in New York, in a meeting that reflected, in itself, what Xi termed a “common understanding” on several relevant issues, though without reaching an agreement on any of the major core topics: Taiwan, Iran, or artificial intelligence, whose development must remain “always under human control” according to Xi, while Trump defended American leadership in the field. (The subsequent state dinner was attended by top U.S. tech executives: Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, among others).
During the Oval Office talks, Xi urged the U.S. to firmly oppose Taiwan’s independence and to halt arms sales to the island. He also urged Washington to seek a negotiated solution to end the conflict with Iran.
The meeting did serve to ratify the extension of the trade war truce—until January—agreed upon a day earlier by the economic teams.
Trump emphasized his “great personal friendship” with Xi, while the Chinese leader adopted a more cautious tone, asking that both countries be “partners, not rivals” to avoid military conflict (alluding to the “Thucydides trap”).
