Donald Trump said he discussed TikTok in his first call with Xi Jinping since 2021
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Donald Trump had his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing the fate of TikTok shortly before the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app This is in America.
The conversation between the leaders was their first in four years and came just two days before the law took effect, forcing app stores to stop making apps available to users.
“I just spoke with President Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good call for both China and the United States,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on Friday. “We discussed balancing Commerce, Fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics. President Xi and I will do everything we can to make the world more peaceful and secure!”
China’s Foreign Ministry said the two leaders agreed to “establish a strategic communication channel to keep in regular contact on important issues of mutual concern.”
While painting a positive picture of the call, the ministry said Xi warned Trump that the US should approach the “Taiwan issue” with “caution”.
Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and refuses to rule out the use of force to occupy the island.
TrumpThe incoming US national security team has been in contact with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming US president marked the first face-to-face conversation between the two in four years.
The call came three days before Trump took office in a ceremony attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, marking the first time a top Chinese official attended a US inauguration.
the The Financial Times reported last week that Mr. Xi would send a special envoy to Washington after Mr. Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.
Some Trump advisers had hoped Beijing would send Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who is very close to Xi and wields more power than Han, who sometimes replaces Xi in roles. ceremonial game.
Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of policy Trump will announce toward China at the start of his term. He has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and many other countries but it is unclear whether he is doing so to gain leverage in negotiations with Beijing or whether he will initiate negotiations on a possible trade deal with China and imposition of tariffs if negotiations go well. unsuccessful.
The conversation took place two days before US app stores were forced to discontinue TikTok, the video-sharing app that had been downloaded by more than 170 million Americans. The law – upheld in a Supreme Court ruling on Friday morning – bans the app unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.
Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will prosecute companies that violate the law.
US-China relations plummeted to its lowest level since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979 under the Biden administration on issues ranging from US export controls to differences over Taiwan.
Although Biden and Xi have succeeded in partially stabilizing relations over the past year, the two countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including China’s support for a full-scale invasion by Russia into Ukraine.
Trump has appointed a number of prominent China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as US national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Scott Bessent, a nominee for Treasury secretary, said this week Trump would push China to buy more American agricultural products, such as corn and soybeans, as part of a narrow trade deal he signed with China last time.
Bessent said Trump will also aggressively impose export controls that will affect China. Beijing has frequently criticized the Biden administration for introducing tough export controls on chips and artificial intelligence-related technology to slow the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.
But China experts are watching closely to see whether some tech billionaires in Trump’s orbit, such as Elon Musk, will try to persuade the incoming president to take a less tough stance on the issue. this topic or not.
Additional reporting by Joe Leahy in Beijing
