[Photo Credit: Reuters]
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet on Friday to wrap up a two-day state visit that has featured pomp and business deals but also a stark warning from Xi that mishandling the Taiwan issue could push U.S.-China relations to “a very dangerous place.”
Trump is on the first visit by a U.S. president to China, America’s main strategic and economic rival, since a 2017 visit during his first term, and has been hoping for tangible results that might improve his dented approval ratings ahead of crucial midterm elections.
The two leaders are scheduled to have tea and lunch before Trump flies back to the United States.
The summit has been aimed at maintaining a fragile trade truce struck when the leaders last met in October and Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of vital rare earths.
Trump has also been expected to urge China to convince Iran to make a deal with Washington to end a war unpopular with American voters.
But he has traveled to Beijing with a weakened hand after U.S. courts limited his ability to levy tariffs at will and as price rises driven by the Iran war have made him politically vulnerable at home.
