Trump and Jinping in crucial talks at Mar-a-Lago

A trade war between the world’s two biggest economies – together they account for almost 40 percent of the world’s economic output – could damage commerce and slow growth.

Topping the agenda at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida will be whether he makes good on his threat to use U.S. And the President’s decision to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal might have been seen as a win by his supporters, but was seen in Asia as a harbinger of a U.S. retreat.

North Korea has carried out several SLBM tests near Sinpo.

A White House strategy review focuses on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. At a time when China’s growing assertiveness in Asia is increasingly scaring its neighbors, accepting these Chinese entreaties would begin the descent down that slippery slope in Asia where allies lose faith in the United States; where China ratchets up its assertive behavior; and where conflict becomes more likely.

Taiwan must deepen democracy, strengthen society, tout the values of human rights, contribute meaningfully in worldwide organizations and seek to perform well economically, Liao said.

Like his predecessors, Trump is pressing China to exert more economic pressure on North Korea, though there is no sign he will be any more successful than past American presidents.

The U.S. imported $462.8 billion worth of goods from China in 2016, and exported $115.8 billion, yielding a goods trade deficit of $347 billion, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. And while rethinking trade with China would likely mean a long, hard period of adjustment for the American economy, continuing to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars annually in China’s direction while Beijing increasingly moves against US strategic interests would ultimately be more painful.

It has also conducted two nuclear weapons tests since January 2016, all in defiance of United Nations sanctions. In general, Da evaluates that Trump’s business mind will be looking for a China policy that is both “low cost and high payoff” [低成本高收益].

Xi landed in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was greeted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

North Korea’s state media have said the world will soon witness what they called “eventful successes” in the country’s space development.

Trump has said the United States is prepared to go it alone in bringing Pyongyang to heel if China – North Korea s top ally – does not step in.

Trump, by contrast, has rejected any notion that free trade can work unless he adopts a more combative stance than his predecessors in the White House did.

“Given the absolute lack of leadership from the Trump administration, China is seeing a stronger role both in its self-interest as a country threatened by the impacts of climate change, and also as a diplomatic opportunity in the vacuum left by Trump’s retrograde position”, said Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior coal campaigner for Greenpeace in Beijing.

While economists believe China pushed down the value of the yuan in the past, China’s central bank for much of the past two years has been working to prop up the yuan amid capital outflow pressures, spending more than $1 trillion in the process.

The meeting between Trump and Xi comes amid a sharp downturn in relations between Taiwan and China that followed the election a year ago of independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. He backtracked in a call with Xi in February.

The onshore yuan in Shanghai edged up 0.02 per cent or 13 basis points to 6.8952 against the U.S. dollar at 10.08am, recovering from a two-week low on Wednesday.