The US must work with China on ‘deliverables’ if it wants Xi-Trump summit: analysts

The United States must match its words with actions and work with China to achieve “deliverables” on touchy topics such as tariffs and fentanyl if it hopes to host a leaders’ summit amid frayed Sino-American ties, according to analysts.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that President Xi Jinping would visit the US in the “not too distant future”. The comments followed recent reports that a meeting between the two leaders was being arranged and could take place in the coming months.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “no information to provide” in response to Trump’s remarks.

Trump has appeared eager to engage China since returning to the White House in January, often boasting about his personal ties to Xi. The pair have spoken at least twice since Trump’s re-election despite Washington’s renewed trade war against Beijing.

However, Josef Gregory Mahoney, an international relations professor at East China Normal University, said China would be “very careful moving forward” with a leaders’ meeting.

Mahoney said the meeting would “only happen if the two sides can reach an agreement on some positive outcomes that go beyond the optics of merely meeting”.