Chinese leader arrives for first face-to-face with Trump

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the state of Florida on Thursday for the first meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, in a bid to chart the course of bilateral ties in a new era.

China still burns more coal than any other nation, but its consumption of the dirtiest fossil fuel fell in 2016 for a third consecutive year.

Appearing with Obama for the final time, shortly after Trump’s election, Xi said the U.S.

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Xi will be navigating a very different atmosphere in the United States.

Moreover, members of his trade team hold disparate views on the issue.

In public, Trump should be gracious and presidential. But behind closed doors, he must be unequivocal.

“I bet you dollars to doughnuts that Xi is coming bearing a specific gift like that that Trump will tweet”, said Max Baucus, the US ambassador to Beijing at the end of Barack Obama’s presidency and a longtime Democratic senator overseeing trade issues.

A press statement agreed to by all 15 members expresses “utmost concern” at North Korea’s “highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance of the Security Council” by conducting the latest launch less than three weeks after the previous test. However, the Chinese say that would devastate the North Korean economy and the population, as 90 percent of North Korea’s exports go to China.

When China takes on a leadership role, Balding says, it does so out of self-interest.

Matt Pottinger, a top White House Asia expert who was tasked with planning the summit, promised a “relaxed interaction” despite a backdrop of tensions over trade and North Korea.

On Thursday, Pyongyang threatened to deliver “the most ruthless blow” if there is “even the smallest provocation” from the United States. Both understand the ties between trade and strategic issues and would bring gravitas to the meeting. “We need to take them at their word on that”.

Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner should not be in these meetings, nor should he be advising Trump on any China issue.

Chinese leaders may make offers to buy a large number of Boeing Co. airplanes or other investments, allowing Trump to claim he negotiated a deal to help the economy, he said. The United States is China’s largest export market and one of its largest sources of foreign investment. “But I’m going to tell you, we’re going to be in there pitching, and I think we are going to do very well”. The Obama administration mostly avoided unilateral trade-enforcement actions under US law, instead favoring a series of WTO cases against Beijing that often take years to produce a result for a given industry. -China relationship proceeds, is largely up to Xi.

Trump repeatedly slammed China on the campaign trail for making unfair trade deals, even accusing China of “raping” the U.S.

Obama also pursued a major trade pact with Pacific powers, including Japan and Vietnam, both to boost USA exports to the rapidly growing region but also to cement America’s influence in the region as a check to China.

“The meeting next week with China will be a very hard one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses”.

Despite his tough campaign talk, Mr Trump has so far not followed through on his threat to formally brand China a “currency manipulator”, or to hit Chinese imports with punitive tariffs.

For Xi, an olive branch on Taiwan is a key objective, according to Shen Dengli, a US-China expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University: “Expect just one thing: Taiwan”.