President Donald Trump escorted Chinese leader Xi Jinping to view the foundational texts of American democracy on Friday, bringing to a close a state visit that delivered few significant breakthroughs on the pressing issues confronting the world’s two largest economies.
Trump stated he raised the stalled conflict in Iran with Xi, and both leaders confirmed they would convene for a third and fourth time this year at international summits in China and the United States.
The talks yielded no major policy declarations on contentious topics such as artificial intelligence, Taiwan, or trade, aside from a two-month prolongation of the tariff truce between the two economic powers.
The sole other announcement was that two giant pandas would soon be sent to a US zoo.
Both Washington and Beijing signaled that the summit nonetheless helped ease tensions between the rival superpowers across multiple fronts.
Trump posted on Truth Social that the encounter was “one of Friendship, Strength, and Success, for both China and the U.S.A.”
“We’ve made great strides, very positive for both countries,” Trump told reporters while sharing tea with Xi at the White House on Friday before the archives visit.
Strategic stability
Trump pulled out all the stops throughout the visit, hosting Xi at a state banquet attended by US technology leaders, complete with military parades, a flyover, and tours of his new White House helipad and ballroom.
Xi, for his part, said the Washington trip added “new substance” to his earlier summit with Trump in Beijing in May.
The Chinese leader noted they had agreed to “strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity”.
The confirmation of continued dialogue between the two leaders was perhaps the most significant outcome for both sides.
Both leaders confirmed they would meet again at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November and the G20 forum at Trump’s Doral resort in Miami in December.
On the final day of the authoritarian Chinese leader’s visit, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump accompanied Xi and Peng Liyuan to the imposing National Archives building.
There they examined the Declaration of Independence, which marks its 250th anniversary this year and which articulated the case for American independence from a tyrannical British monarch.
Beneath the rotunda, Trump also showed Xi the US Constitution, the document that established the principles of the country’s democratic government two and a half centuries ago.
Trump’s display of US democratic principles at the National Archives came just a week after he barred three major US media outlets from the White House; they were readmitted on Thursday following a US judge’s order.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution safeguards freedom of the press.
“We’re just comparing how this goes 250 years, theirs goes 6,000 years,” Trump told reporters, referencing China’s ancient civilizational roots as he stood alongside Xi, who also chairs the Chinese Communist Party that has governed China since 1949.
Asked whether he expected progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital for oil shipments, Trump vaguely responded: “I think we’re going to do great.”
Rights organizations criticize China for its restrictions on press freedom and freedom of expression.
Trump also openly ridiculed his democratically elected predecessor Joe Biden while touring Xi through the White House on Thursday. In a hallway displaying portraits of US presidents, Trump mounted a picture of an “autopen” in place of Biden’s official portrait.
FRANCE 24 with AFP
