Pesident Xi - Trump summit

[ahojunk]

Chinese, US leaders to work for positive outcomes from bilateral ties
By Zhang Penghui (People's Daily Online) 15:48, April 03, 2017

The upcoming meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump will go well, former US Ambassador to China Stapleton Roy predicted on Friday ahead of Xi’s upcoming visit, adding that they will both try to work for positive outcomes rather than poor outcome.

He made the comments in an interview with the People’s Daily on the sidelines of a seminar organized by Washington-headquartered Center for Strategic and International Studies over the upcoming Xi-Trump meeting.

“I think both leaders recognize that they are dealing with probably the most important country from each side’s standpoint,” the diplomat explained.

“Therefore, if things go wrong, there can be very serious potential consequences,” he said, believing that both leaders have understood the importance of bilateral ties.

"We wouldn't be having this summit if the two sides didn't want it to go well. I don't see it that difficult to have it go reasonably well," Roy noted.

Roy believed Mar-a-Lago resort as an ideal venue for Xi’s meeting with Trump, saying that “I think the pattern that they have a more relax meeting, in which you touch a wide range of issues is much better than the one hour meetings”.

“It is very difficult to deal with difficult issues in a one-hour meeting,”the envoy explained.

The arrangement of a meeting between heads of state in such an early stage, according to the former ambassador, will provide chances for progress of bilateral ties.

A close and frequent contact between both top leaders will help the two nations bolster ties and manage disagreements, he said, adding that a series of important agendas will be discussed in this meeting.

Recalling his multiple meetings with Chinese leaders when working as US diplomat, he was impressed by the elaborate preparations for bilateral meetings of Chinese leaders and their good mastery of discussed topics.

Born in Nanjing, capital city of eastern-central coastal Jiangsu province, Roy spent most of his 40-plus-year diplomatic career in dealing with the US’ relations with China. He also witnessed big events including the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.

After assuming the post of US Ambassador to China in 1990s, he became a direct witness of the vicissitudes and development of bilateral relationship.

Both countries have managed to settle the complicated and thorny challenges they encountered through diplomatic approaches, the diplomat said.

“I think it is very important for them to discuss not only the issues we have common interests, but also the areas we have differences,” he said, adding that it needs to be done in a respectable fashion.

“You can actually make progress on difficult issues if you try to make progress rather than creating new obstacles,” the former ambassador stressed.

He also called on US enterprises to engage in projects related to China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, in a belief that it will benefit the US businesses.

“International trade always involves trade deficits and trade surpluses with other countries, and for variety of reasons. You have to look differently,” he said so when commenting on China-US economic and trade ties.

Roy at last suggested the US and China show respect to each other, expand shared interests, and manage disagreements.

 

[ahojunk]

POLITICS | Tue Apr 4, 2017 | 7:48am EDT
U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit
By Michael Martina and Diane Bartz | BEIJING/WASHINGTON

Although worried about the prospect of a trade war, American businesses operating in China nonetheless want President Donald Trump to wring some concessions on market access from China's leader Xi Jingping when the two meet this week.

Trump warned in a tweet last week the meetings at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday and Friday will be "very difficult" and "American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives."

Trump has said he wants U.S. companies to stop investing in China and instead create jobs at home. He has also accused China of manipulating its currency to boost exports.

Critics within U.S. industry have accused China of unfair government subsidies to its companies, and of flooding the U.S. market with cheap products from steel to solar panels, while restricting foreign investment over vast swathes of the world's second-biggest economy.

But they also worry Trump's policies on China are not entirely clear, with his trade team still not in place, and may be subject to a 'grand bargain' involving other issues such as North Korea.

Trump is set to enter the meeting without several key advisors, including his pick for trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer who has yet to be confirmed by Congress. His nominee as ambassador to China, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, has also yet to be confirmed, while several posts in the U.S. State Department that formulate Asia policy remain unfilled.

"With this in mind, it is hard to imagine that there will be much in the way of concrete accomplishments at this summit, or even that there has been any significant interagency discussion on strategy leading up to it," said Randal Phillips, Mintz Group's Beijing-based managing partner for Asia and the former chief CIA representative in China.

'ACTIONS, NOT WORDS'

Some of the largest U.S. companies have contributed to the billions of dollars of foreign direct investment that have poured into China over the past two decades, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. They include tech companies like Apple, which makes much of its iPhone in China, automakers such as General Motors and Ford, heavy machinery firms like Caterpillar, retailers like Starbucks and makers of shaving foam and detergent, like Procter & Gamble.

U.S. steel producers want Trump to press Xi on Chinese steel prices, according to a source who has been in discussions with the administration in advance of the summit.

U.S. automakers complain about a disparity in tariffs: The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on auto imports, China's is 25 percent.

But the stakes are perhaps highest for American technology firms, who worry that China's new cyber-security law, which takes effect in June, sets potentially discriminatory standards for multinationals.

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a think-tank whose board includes representatives from Apple, IBM Google and other tech heavyweights, has urged the Trump administration to pressure China to "stop rigging markets". It warned that possible retaliation from Beijing was not a reason for inaction.

Trump has staked out various positions on China as president in his tweets, phone calls and statements.

In a phone call with Xi after taking office, Trump gave ground on one of Beijing's most sensitive issues – the status of Taiwan - after earlier suggesting he might not stick to Washington's long-held "one China" policy.

Trump signed two executive orders on trade on Friday, one to improve import tariff collection and another to study the causes of the U.S. trade deficit. Trump said at the White House signing ceremony he and Xi were "going to get down to some serious business" and vowed that "the theft of American prosperity" by foreign countries would end.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said on Friday the U.S.-China trade imbalance was mostly the result of differences in the two countries' economic structures and noted China had a trade deficit in services.

China tops the list of countries who have trade surpluses with the United States, with a $347 billion surplus last year.

TRADE WARS

Some in the U.S. business community worry about tit-for-tat retaliation in trade disputes with China.

Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, said the two presidents need to take "positive actions that would lead to a more durable relationship, not retaliatory actions that would lead to a trade war".

The list of commercial issues between the two countries was so long, it would be impossible to make a major dent in them with one meeting, he said.

China is the largest export market for U.S. soybean producers, accounting for 62 percent of U.S. soy exports in 2016 with a value of over $14 billion, leading some experts to suggest the sector could be particularly vulnerable to retaliation.

Steve Censky, chief executive of the American Soybean Association, told Reuters he hopes Trump will take a "prudent" approach to the trade relationship and address any issues in a "workman-like manner", recognizing that both countries have a lot to lose if the relationship suffers.

William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China met senior Trump administration officials in February, and said "it was clear they were very familiar with the issues facing American companies in China, perhaps more so than previous administrations".

But several corporate lobbyists, representing a range of companies expressed concern Trump's lack of attention to detail could prove counterproductive when it comes to the intricacies of the massive trade and investment relationship.

"It's not yet clear whether ... this is a White House that wants to fundamentally reset the terms of the relationship or tinker at the edges and declare a public relations win," said a China expert at a Washington business lobby who asked not to be named.


(Reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Diane Bartz, David Shepardson and Joel Schectman in Washington; Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; and Mark Weinraub in Chicago; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

 

[samsara]

Commentary: Xi-Trump meeting to assure world on China-U.S. ties

Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-05 14:33:23|Editor: Mengjiao Liu

by Xinhua writers Zhang Chunxiao, Meng Na

BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump will meet in Florida, the United States, from Thursday to Friday to set the tone for the future development of bilateral relations.

The Mar-a-Lago meeting, the first between the two presidents since Trump took office in January, will dispense with much of the formality usually entailed in a state visit, focusing on effective communication of issues of common concern.

For those alarmed that uncertainties might arise from policy adjustments of the Trump administration, the meeting sends a positive and reassuring message that the two countries lay great stress on stability in their relationship.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1979, China and the United States have had their share of ups and downs, but cooperation has remained the main theme, especially now given their greater-than-ever interdependence and increasing convergence of interests.

The two countries have come a long way, with two-way trade of goods surging 207-fold from 1979 to 519.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2016. Bilateral investment amounted to more than 170 billion dollars at the end of last year. They also cooperated in the fight against terrorism, climate change and other issues of global impact.

Accomplishments like these speak volumes about how beneficial a sound China-U.S. relationship can be, not only to the two peoples involved, but the world at large. Cooperation has proved to be the right way forward.

In 2013, Beijing and Washington agreed to move forward their ties based on non-confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

These principles are expected to continue to prevail, as indicated by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's reiteration of the principles in his March trip to China and Trump's pledge to adhere to the one-China policy in a phone talk with Xi in February.

Maintaining close communication, especially at the top level, will make sure their relations stay on the right track.

Amid a weak global economic recovery and a growing backlash against globalization, the world is looking to China and the United States.

In the upcoming meeting, Xi and Trump are expected to seek consensus on economic and trade cooperation, among other topics. Results of the meeting will have global implications.

As major countries, China and the United States should do more than just looking out for their own best interests.

They need to set good examples for the world, shoulder due responsibility, and separately or jointly, provide more public goods to promote mankind's well-being.

Avoiding the Thucydides Trap is crucial. Enhanced dialogue and coordination between the two sides could do the trick.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/05/c_136184277.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thucydides Trap", a phrase coined by Graham T. Allison, refers to when a rising power causes fear in an established power which escalates toward war. Thucydides wrote: "What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta."

 

[onebyone]

Xi Jinping’s chance to turn infrastructure into a new building block for Sino-US ties
PUBLISHED : Monday, 03 April, 2017, 10:56pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 05 April, 2017, 3:07pm

Chinese President Xi Jinping has the chance this week to lay the groundwork for a new era in the often-fraught Sino-US relationship, with infrastructure potentially replacing climate change as the cornerstone for cooperation between the two countries, according to diplomatic analysts.

Observers said Xi should promote his signature “One Belt, One Road” initiative to revive trade along ancient routes when he meets his US counterpart, Donald Trump, for a two-day summit in Florida from Thursday.

The belt-and-road plan could be common ground for the two leaders in the same way that Xi established an unlikely rapport with Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, on climate change.

“I think Trump will be intrigued by it because Trump is very interested in infrastructure and he wants to upgrade American infrastructure and look for opportunities for US businesses,” Gal Luft, co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, said.

In Obama’s last years in the White House, Beijing and Washington frequently used their common cause in cutting greenhouse gases to salvage relations mired in mistrust over conflicting security and trade interests.

China’s sovereign wealth fund wants to invest in the US infrastructure rebuild, chairman says

But things have changed dramatically less than three months into Trump’s presidency, with the former real estate mogul aggressively backtracking on Obama’s climate policy. “During Obama’s time climate change was sort of the magical issue the two sides always resorted to and they found common ground,” Luft said. “But with Trump, he couldn’t care less about climate change.”

Ma Zhengang, a former Chinese ambassador to Britain and former president of the China Institute of International Studies, said climate change had almost become an “off-limits” issue for Trump, and Xi was unlikely to bring it up during his US trip.

“We have to understand and live with the fact that every US president has a different personality, especially in the case of Trump,” Ma said. “Apart from setting the tone for bilateral ties for the next four years, the world is watching if they will manage to produce some tangible results on various specific issues.”

Observers said it would be a big achievement if Trump and Xi could find something during the talks that they were both personally interested in and could work together on.

“They’ll need an issue, what I call the glue, that can replace climate change as the binding factor in the relations,” Luft said.

Xi first aired the belt-and-road initiative in 2013 as part of Beijing’s effort to project its power in Asia and beyond. It was largely welcomed in many parts of the world but not by the Obama administration.

Trump is a big advocate of increasing infrastructure spending on a massive scale to boost the economy and create jobs. And observers say that is where China’s growing economic and investment clout could come in.

Meet the people shaping China-US ties ahead of the Xi-Trump summit

Brian Gao, president of the Detroit Chinese Business Association, said many Chinese firms were keen to be part of US infrastructure projects because this played to their strength.

“Infrastructure projects, from our perspective, do not involve national security,” Gao said.

Much is riding on this week’s summit and, during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, State Councillor Yang Jiechi urged Washington to make sure the summit was a “complete success”, state media reported. Tillerson, whose trip to Beijing last month paved way for the summit, said Washington would do its utmost to prepare for Xi’s visit and make sure it would generate positive outcomes, according to Xinhua.

The leaders are likely to touch on a familiar list of issues, with rising tensions on the Korean peninsula expected to top their agenda, analysts said.

In an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday, Trump said he would urge Xi to take a tougher stand against Pyongyang’s accelerated nuclear weapons programme, threatening to take unilateral action to eliminate the danger from North Korea. “Yes, we will talk about North Korea,” Trump was quoted as saying. “And China has great influence over North Korea … if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”

Top US, China officials pledge to make Xi-Trump summit a success

Ma said that although North Korea was an urgent issue for China and the US, it remained to be seen if they would have enough time to narrow their differences.

“Apparently, Trump has yet to articulate a clear policy on North Korea and Xi will have a lot of explaining to do considering the fact that Trump does not appear to really understand China’s position on the issue,” Ma said.

Andrew Nathan, a veteran China-watcher at Columbia University in New York, said Xi did not have the will or the ability to really solve the North Korea problem in the way the US leader would wish.

“Xi may be able to persuade Trump to issue some goodwill signals to North Korea as a way of testing whether negotiations are possible,” Nathan said.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, also said the tricky part would be getting a deal that would publicly satisfy both Trump and Xi.

“Trump probably wants tangible help over North Korea, but Xi just needs to project that the summit went well without giving away much from China,” he said.

Besides, China’s influence on North Korea had often been exaggerated. “If North Korea is a gift in Xi’s pocket, handing it to Trump would not be a big deal as it would not cost Beijing much – in contrast to trade, for example – but North Korea is not Xi’s to give,” Tsang said.

Taking the initiative: China pushes ahead with strategy to establish One belt, One Road

Most analysts said the summit was unlikely to produce substantive outcomes because none of the issues at hand, such as the South China Sea, Taiwan, currency and trade imbalance, had solutions at the moment.

“I don’t expect any progress on the South China Sea dispute,” Nathan said. “The Chinese would like a US commitment to one China. I hope Trump will be smart enough to refrain from any change to the existing formula that the US follows a one-China policy.”

Luft said Beijing and Washington were unlikely to inch closer on a much-talked-about bilateral investment treaty. “For China, it means major reforms, such as opening certain sectors of China’s economy to foreign investors, and I don’t think China is willing to do right now,” he said.

For Trump, treaties and agreements were premature because they needed to be ratified by the US Congress.

“I think they’ll need to focus on things that are in their powers and go for things that are simple, constructive, and don’t require involving US congress,” Luft said.

Scott Kennedy, of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said in an article published on the think tank’s website that Trump would also have to make himself understood in clearer terms about “what the US wants China to do to address its concerns”.


Additional reporting by Robert Delaney

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
Infrastructure a potential new glue for Sino-US tiesInfrastructure a potential new glue for Sino-US ties when leaders meet

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...pings-chance-turn-infrastructure-new-building

 

[ahojunk]

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping manoeuvre behind scenes to ease tensions

China’s president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive in Helsinki, Finland.

Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner meets an Iraqi officer in Baghdad.
​

• JEREMY PAGE, FELICIA SCHWARTZ
• The Wall Street Journal
• 12:00AM April 6, 2017

A month after tough talk on China helped win Donald Trump the US presidency, Beijing’s top diplomat visited Trump Tower to deliver a stern lecture on the need to respect Chinese interests.

It didn’t go over well. A day later, Mr Trump challenged Beijing with a veiled threat to bolster US ties to the democratic island of Taiwan.

Since then, both sides have manoeuvred, largely behind the scenes, to lower the temperature, setting the stage for Mr Trump’s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

The summit now offers a test of that strategy and a chance for the two leaders, if they choose to take it, to recalibrate relations and reduce the risk of flare-ups over trade, North Korea or the South China Sea. With both men deeply invested in projecting strength and the promise of national rejuvenation, a disappointing summit could plunge ties back into turmoil.

The Trump administration in recent weeks has dropped talk of blocking Chinese access to its South China Sea outposts and toned down its attacks on China’s currency policy. It didn’t join Britain, Germany and other allies criticising China over the alleged torture of human-rights lawyers.

After challenging China on its most sensitive issue — US ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rebel province — Mr Trump reversed course in February, clearing the way for the two-day gathering at Mar-a-Lago, the President’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

In Beijing last month Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the basis for US-China ties as “non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win co-operation”, the exact language used in the past by Mr Xi. The US has long avoided echoing those words, fearing they amount to an agreement to steer clear of such contentious issues as Taiwan and the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes. Mr Tillerson’s hosts were delighted. Many US officials were stunned.

The tone has been set in part by a charm offensive by China’s US ambassador, Cui Tiankai, toward Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser, according to officials and government advisers in the two countries.

The White House declined to comment on Mr Kushner’s contacts with Mr Cui but said he had worked with Mr Tillerson on persuading Mr Trump to reverse course on Taiwan after other officials failed. China’s foreign ministry declined to comment.

White House officials say Mr Trump will press Mr Xi to agree to a “results-oriented” relationship with action on two significant issues: curbing Chinese exports to shrink the US trade deficit, and policing Chinese companies that trade with North Korea to hobble Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

Mr Xi’s priority is to stabilise relations as he focuses on assuring his dominance in a Communist Party leadership reshuffle later this year, Chinese political insiders say. A crisis in US relations, especially a trade war that slows China’s economy, presents one of the few threats to his authority.

China, however, has become accustomed to Mr Trump’s rhetorical posturing and given no public signs of concession. It has reiterated demands for the US to lift restrictions on technology exports to China and repeated a proposal, already rejected by Washington, for North Korea to suspend its nuclear program in exchange for a halt to US-South Korean military drills.

Beijing’s strategy, Chinese government advisers say, is to offer to buy more American goods and to invest more in the US, while pressing Mr Trump to endorse a new framework for relations that acknowledges China’s status and territorial interests.

“We’ve moved from a period of great uncertainty, when the Chinese were very insecure about what Trump might do to harm their interests, to the Chinese potentially thinking they’ve got this guy in their pocket,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Many veterans of negotiating with China, inside and outside the US government, say the Trump administration has lost leverage by backtracking on its own positions, as well as on longstanding tenets of US policy, without extracting significant concessions from Beijing.

Some of these specialists feel the summit may be premature. The White House has neither resolved internal disputes over its China policy nor filled key posts to oversee it.

Confronting China, especially on trade, was central to Mr Trump’s nationalist platform, but foreign-policy and pro-business officials now seek a more pragmatic approach.

Officials in both countries hope the meeting will allow the presidents to establish a personal rapport. The first ladies are invited, and the two leaders are expected to stroll in the grounds, similar to Mr Xi’s 2013 summit with president Barack Obama in California.

One fear for China is that Mr Trump could embarrass Mr Xi if the summit fails to live up to expectations, according to people on both sides briefed on negotiations.

“The Chinese should be well advised not to underestimate President Trump, and where he could lead things if he feels he’s being played,” said one US official briefed on trade negotiations.

Mr Xi, on the other hand, “can’t be seen making any major concessions on this trip” that might be construed as a trade-off for Mr Trump’s observing the longstanding agreement on Taiwan, said a Chinese official close to the leadership. Even so, “China can always buy more Boeing planes”, the official added.

During the presidential campaign, Mr Trump promised to label Beijing a currency manipulator his first day in office and to slap a 45 per cent tariff on imported Chinese goods. His win plunged US-China ties into chaos.

Mr Trump broke decades of diplomatic protocol on December 2 by taking a congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

A week later, Mr Xi sent State Councillor Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign-policy official, to meet members of the future administration at Mr Trump’s signature building in New York City. Mr Cui and Mr Kushner attended, said people briefed on the meeting.

Mr Yang, who is known for his abrasive style, told his audience — including chief strategist Steve Bannon — about respecting China’s core interests, especially regarding Taiwan, said the people briefed. “That lecture and its well-practised server did have a negative impact on those he delivered it to,” said a person who spoke with those who attended.

A senior administration official said the Chinese guests were told to expect a fresh perspective in relations but it was “ultimately for the President to decide”.

A day later, Mr Trump suggested in a TV interview he might not abide by the longstanding one-China policy, an agreement by the US not to pursue diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

China’s foreign-policy establishment quickly met to brainstorm a fresh approach, according to people who took part. They studied copies of Mr Trump’s book The Art of the Deal. Several Chinese think tanks were commissioned to file reports on Mr Trump’s personality.

Opinion was divided. One group saw Mr Trump as a dealmaker less interested in maintaining US alliances in Asia and who could work with Beijing. Others regarded him as a serious threat to China’s economy and security.

The consensus emerged that Mr Trump cared most about trade and US jobs — areas where Beijing could offer compromise — and that he could be persuaded to maintain the status quo with Taiwan.

Mr Xi sent a New Year’s greeting card to Mr Trump in early January. Mr Trump didn’t immediately reciprocate. On January 13 Mr Trump told The Wall Street Journal he considered the one-China policy negotiable.

Chinese government advisers saw a path to Mr Trump through his family. Leading the way was Mr Cui, whose easy manner contrasted sharply with Mr Yang’s.

“Personal diplomacy matters,” said a person who has dealt with both men. “And in this White House, personal relationships are especially important.”

Beijing found in Mr Kushner a more direct line between Mr Trump and Mr Xi. Both presidents rely on a small circle of trusted advisers. Since Mr Kushner became involved, US officials have toned down their language.

“Trump’s son-in-law is key,” said Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “First, he’s our ambassador’s main point of contact with Trump. Second, he’s the main figure for passing ideas and suggestions on China policy.”

On February 1 Mr Cui persuaded Ivanka Trump, Mr Kushner’s wife and the President’s daughter, to attend a Lunar New Year party at Beijing’s embassy in Washington.

The next day Ms Trump posted a video of her daughter Arabella singing a New Year’s song in Mandarin. The clip went viral in China, helping smooth over criticism of Mr Trump’s failing to send a Lunar New Year message, an annual White House courtesy.

Mr Trump sent a holiday greeting to Mr Xi a week later, in time for the last day of the New Year’s festivities.

The following day Mr Trump spoke with Mr Xi by phone for the first time since his inauguration, and pledged to follow the one-China policy.

Whether Beijing offered anything in return was unclear. When asked that at a news briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said only: “The President always gets something.”

US policy experts have expressed concern that Mr Kushner, 36, a former real-estate developer, lacks the experience or expertise to effectively negotiate with Mr Cui, a 64-year-old career diplomat.

The Kushner family’s real estate firm was in advanced talks with a politically connected Chinese insurance firm, Anbang Insurance Group, for an investment of up to $US1.25 billion ($1.65bn) in a New York real estate project. Those ended last month after an outcry over possible conflicts of interest. Mr Kushner had earlier sold his stake in the project and other properties to relatives.

Mr Kushner, who also has been asked to work on relations with Mexico and the Middle East, may be stretched thin.

He travelled to Baghdad this week with US officials, where he met the Iraqi Prime Minister at a military briefing on the fight against Islamic State.

Asked about Mr Kushner’s heavy portfolio, Mr Spicer said he oversees a team. His involvement in China and other foreign-policy issues stems from his work co-ordinating meetings with foreign officials during the transition, Mr Spicer said.

There is one measure of Mr Kushner’s influence that will be closely watched by Chinese officials during this week’s summit: whether Mr Trump, like Mr Tillerson last month, speaks of a relationship based on “non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win co-operation”.

The phrase was first used by Mr Xi in 2013 to define a “new model of great power relations” between the US and China. It was never endorsed by the Obama administration because, officials said, it implied acceptance of Chinese dominance of Asia.

Mr Tillerson’s use of the phrase in Beijing was a surprise, according to US officials. “It wasn’t in the talking points, so I guess it remains a mystery,” one official said, adding Mr Tillerson had been “warned against the traps when the Chinese try to get you to buy into their formulations”.

Chinese state media has since applauded Mr Tillerson, as have some Chinese officials.

“Happily surprised,” one adviser to the Communist Party leadership said.

Additional reporting: Carol E. Lee
The Wall Street Journal

 

[ahojunk]

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping's first meeting to be dominated by trade, North Korea
By China correspondent Matthew Carney
Updated about 8 hours ago

President Xi and President Trump

US President Donald Trump faces his biggest test as a world leader when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time in Florida.

Mr Trump has already signalled it will be difficult and warned he will go it alone on North Korea if China doesn't help.

But trade is likely to dominate. Mr Trump has staked his presidency on bringing jobs back to the US and reducing America's huge trade deficit with China.

Many experts say his plans are unlikely to succeed.

What happens when the two leaders meet at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday (local time) will be felt around the world.

Together China and America make up 40 per cent of the global economy.

Presidents' traditional trade stance reversal

James McGregor has been living in China for more than 25 years and is a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

"The Chinese will want to take measure of Donald Trump and figure out how they can deal with him," he said.

"There is two strong personalities running each country so it's going to be person to person.

"The 19th party congress is coming up for Xi Jinping later this year so he will want to look all knowing and powerful … The Chinese don't want anything embarrassing to happen so they want a quick talk and get out of town."

On the face of it Mr Trump and Mr Xi are totally different people: Mr Trump the dealmaker, real estate developer, reality-TV-star-come-president, and Mr Xi the hard-line communist party supremo.

The great irony is their public stances have been reversed.

Mr Xi is now spruiking himself as a champion of free trade, sounding like US presidents of the past.

Mr Trump on the other hand is going back to the era of protectionism and idea that it will lead to greater prosperity and strength.

Trade imbalance a focus for Trump

A basis of co-operation needs to be found for there is a lot at stake. Annual trade between the US and China is now about $US600 billion.

America's biggest exports are aircraft, machinery and soybeans, totalling $US116 billion.

But Chinese exports, at $US463 billion, are four times bigger — the major ones being consumer electronics, clothing and machinery.

Mr Trump wants this huge trade imbalance addressed when he meets Mr Xi.

Mr McGregor says Mr Trump's team will be pushing "countervailing duties, anti-dumping measures, all steel aluminium dumping, and excess capacity being dumped overseas".

"The US is going to focus on that and that's people he had brought into his administration," he said.

China can quickly retaliate to hurt vulnerable US, Trump

But most economists say Mr Trump's pledge to bring back jobs to the rust belt of America is unrealistic.

To remain competitive, US workers would have to accept much lower wages and worse conditions.

Professor Michael Pettis from Peking University says it's just not that simple anymore.

"In the manufacturing of most electronics there is often one leg of that's gone through China because it has cheap disciplined labour and cheap domestic costs," he said.

"When the US buys a finished product it could have gone through five to 10 different countries. So it's very complex these days."

Mr Trump's threat to impose tariffs of up to 45 per cent on Chinese imports will also hit US firms, such as Apple, which assemble goods in China.

American consumers will lose out with much higher prices.

Mr McGregor says if any kind of trade war erupts, China can easily and quickly retaliate to hurt Mr Trump.

"They are going to be screaming at the White House and it's going to be farmers and workers, his base — people that voted for him — that would get hit by this," Mr McGregor said.

"He's going to wake up pretty quickly. China will go after big multinationals like Walmart, GE, Caterpillar, Intel — they have big stakes in China.

"If it comes to that everyone will lose."

'The President has been schooled'

China has been one of the biggest benefactors of globalisation so it will continue to push its win-win message.

It says America has benefited, and in 2015 bilateral trade and investment created 2.6 million American jobs and saved every American family $US850 a year.

Henry Wang, from the Chinese Think Tank Centre for China and Globalisation, says Mr Xi may offer Mr Trump job-creating Chinese investment in America and greater access to Chinese markets.

Mr Xi at least will want to hear Mr Trump is committed to the one China policy.

Mr Trump is a businessman, so if he is looking for the best deal, the biggest benefits, who else can be the best provider but China?

At end of the day Mr McGregor too, says Mr Trump is likely to be pragmatic.

Mr McGregor and many others have been to Washington to advise the new administration.

"The President has been schooled," he said.

"All these CEOs going into the White House who have big stakes in China are telling him if you try to do China like Mexico, you're going to have a bad day.

"So he's backed off until recently. Now he's ramping up, but I don't think he will be wacko. I think he'll be forceful, but not really wacko."

 

[samsara]

Xi Jinping arrives at Mar-a-Lago, greeted by Donald Trump. #XiVisit

https://twitter.com/x/status/850141720368959488

 

[ahojunk]

A picture paints a thousand words.

========

US President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida resort for their first summit.

Mr Trump said the two men had "developed a friendship" as they sat for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago retreat.

 

[nature is]

Trump loves China

 

[samsara]

Donald Trump accepts Xi Jinping’s invitation to visit China

By Teddy Ng - SCMP
PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 April, 2017, 3:13pm
UPDATED : Friday, 07 April, 2017, 6:03pm

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping share a friendly handshake during dinner at Mar-a-Lago (SCMP)

US President Donald Trump has accepted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping’s invitation to visit China, state-media reported on Friday.

State-run Xinhua news agency made the announcement as the two leaders are meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Why the Xi-Trump summit is a high-stakes gamble

Xi arrived in Florida for the summit with Trump on Thursday, US time.

He and his wife Peng Liyuan attended a welcome dinner hosted by Trump and his wife Melania.

Ahead of the dinner, Trump said he and Xi had already had a long discussion and “developed a friendship”.

Xi said he is ready to work with Trump to push forward the Sino-US relations from a “new starting point”.

“There are a thousand reasons to make Sino-US relationship work, and no reason to break it,” Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The two leaders are expected to discuss issues ranging from North Korea’s nuclear programme to trade disputes during their two-day talks.

But the talks are now being overshadowed by the United States’ military strike against Syria.

 

[ahojunk]

Xi says ready to boost China-U.S. ties from new starting point with Trump
(Xinhua) 16:25, April 07, 2017

Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Thursday that he is ready to work with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to push forward China-U.S. relations from a new starting point.

While meeting with Trump in the latter's Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago, Xi said there is "There are a thousand reasons to make the China-U.S. relationship work, and no reason to break it."

Since the normalization of China-U.S. relations 45 years ago, the bilateral relationship, even though experienced ups and downs, has made historic progress and brought enormous and pragmatic benefits to the two peoples, Xi said.

The Chinese president said it takes political resolve and historical commitments from leaders of both countries to enhance the bilateral relations in the 45 years to come.

Xi also invited Trump to pay a state visit to China in 2017.

For his part, Trump accepted the invitation with pleasure, and hoped to make the trip at an early date, according to officials.

 

[samsara]

Interview: Veteran diplomat says win-win cooperation only viable option for China-U.S. ties

Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-05 12:03:01|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

by Xinhua writers Zhou Xiaozheng, Yang Shilong

NEW YORK, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A sound China-U.S. relationship featuring win-win cooperation benefits both Chinese and American peoples, and serves as a "bedrock" and key element of global stability, a veteran U.S. diplomat has said.

"There's a long tradition from Nixon through Reagan, Clinton, through both Bushes and Obama, of strong, cooperative ties between the United States and China," Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Kissinger Associates, told Xinhua in a recent interview in his New York office.

"One of the things that are remarkable about U.S.-China relations is that the U.S. policy has not been partisan -- the Republicans under Nixon did not differ very much with Democrats under Carter, and the Bushes' and Obama's views were very similar," he said. "When you look at it, it has not been partisan, and it should not be."

The 73-year-old veteran diplomat and economist was actively involved in the thawing and normalization of China-U.S. relations in the 1970s under the Richard Nixon administration, and also served as a senior advisor to Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, all big names closely associated with U.S. diplomacy toward China in the past decades.

In Hormats' view, the United States and China, as two major countries and the world's top two economies, have "very strong common interest" in many areas, and "it's very hard to see real progress being made" on many important global issues without the two countries working together.

"So maintaining that sound (bilateral) relationship as a cornerstone of American policy and Chinese policy, I think, has been important and should continue to be important," he stressed.

Having witnessed the vicissitudes of bilateral ties, Hormats noted that cooperation does not mean the two sides will agree on every issue or there will not be areas of dispute.

For example, trade issues "had been there when I was in government," he said. "The question is, to resolve them in a constructive way or to resolve them in a non-constructive way."

According to the veteran diplomat, the lesson that has been learned since the early 1970s is that this is a time, then as well as now, for these two great countries "to work together and find solutions which are mutually beneficial and also beneficial to the world, even though no solutions can be quick and easy."

As for some people preaching the theory of "containing China" to maintain America's world dominance, Hormats commented that "their minds are in the last century somehow."

"I do know that that kind of policy won't work and I do know also from my experience that doesn't even make any sense," he elaborated, noting that today's China, with its rising economic strength, is playing a more and more important role in promoting prosperity and stability across the world.

"I think the idea has to be one of collaboration, cooperation, and finding win-win circumstances. Working with China is the right answer," he stressed.

As regards the Belt and Road Initiative, a vision for trade, investment and infrastructure development in Asia, Europe and the Middle East laid out by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Hormats said it is "very comprehensive," "very visionary" and "historically important."

Instead of isolating itself from the China-proposed initiative, the United States "should be finding ways of working with China in this," he said.

With leaders of the two countries set to meet in Florida, Hormats said he believes that such an early meeting, which takes place just two and a half months after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office, will not only benefit both countries, but also serve "multilateral interests."

It is really important for the leaders to develop a "good personal chemistry" and review the various issues on the U.S.-China agenda, he said.

A successful presidential meeting will also publicly convey a message that the two countries are not caught in an "adversarial relationship," and will work together to solve problems through "constructive dialogue," he added.

He also suggested that the new U.S. administration move fast to adopt a clear medium-term or long-term policy on China, which should be a "thoughtful one."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/05/c_136184056.htm

 

[武成王]

Tough Negotiation. Trump is a smart negotiator. US is delivering a signal to China that staying far away from Syria, it's an implicit threat because the attacking time is absolutely not a coincidence.

Quote from "The Art Of Deal" by Trump:
"I don't kid myself. Life is very fragile, and success does't change that. If anything, success makes it more fragile. Anything can change, without warning, and that's why I try not to take any of what's happened too seriously. Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what I should have done differently, or what's going to happen next. If you ask me exactly what deals I'm about to describe all add up to in the end, I'm not sure I have a very good answer. Except that I've had a very good time making them."

This guy is often unpredictable, Syria prove this.

...

Wrong. China is in fact not stake holder in Syria. US is testing how Russia react, since this time is not a good time for Russia and China have a top level communication on Syria. You should grow up, please don't act like a dumped woman.

 

[samsara]

...

Ha ha ha... China is trembling, very scared of those Tomahawks

Some typical folks here (notice on how the hollow mostly come from certain background waving some particular flag! How bizarre!) are simply living under illusions, and feel great envy to what the Chinese have been achieving... and with myopic views, hollowing out seeing the superficial only but not the substances...

Yeah, China is definitely losing in negotiations and interactions by being more advanced, growing stronger and richer over time... yet still a Developing Nation (unlike some 2020 SupaPowa).

Now see why this phrase? "living under illusions, and feel great envy"

A geopolitical translation for your digest:

Trump used the western pretext of the chem-attack by Damascus to directly attack Syria, a ONE time assault, to show that he's strong... at the cost of his earlier wish to improve relationship with Russia. But now since the Russian meme is so strong (note: one may wish to read this post of mine here to grasp the Russian meme) around the D.C. circles and being pumped by the MSM it becomes less feasible, seems Trump has been lost in his wish to amend the US ties with RUS. It seems the Deep State has hijacked Trump's foreign policy with regard to Russia. The consequential effects of this aggression will remain to be seen over time. What is Russia's next move will be interesting to see

// EDIT: The Consequential Effects of the USA's unilateral strike on Syria start to roll out... just moment ago I saw this headline at the global news

Russia Suspends Memorandum With US on Flight Safety in Syria - Foreign Ministry (2017-04-07)

"Russia has suspended its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States following the deadly US missile attack on the Sha'irat airfield, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

"Russia suspends the memorandum on the prevention of incidents and ensuring air safety during operations in Syria reached with the US," the ministry said in a statement."

https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704071052391256-russia-us-syria-flight-safety/

https://twitter.com/x/status/850432938445549570

As regarding the North Korea, please read at below. The North Korea is not Syria or Iraq or Libya!

"North Korea’s Ballistic Missiles Are Very Hard to Hit" - I just posted the article here.


However, no matter who the president is, eventually the MIC always keeps the war machine going.

 

[Zsari]

"China does not want the U.S. military taking unilateral action in Syria. Beijing has long said it prefers a multilateral approach, though, over the course of six brutal years of war it has repeatedly used its veto power to vote with Russia against United Nations Security Council resolutions on Syria, including a December 2016 plan for a seven-day cease-fire in Aleppo and, more recently, a call for sanctions over the use of chemical weapons.

At a daily press briefing on Friday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reiterated China’s support for a “political settlement” and said it was urgent to prevent any further deterioration of the situation in Syria.

The timing of the U.S. strike is remarkable. The Trump-Xi summit comes at a time of tremendous uncertainty in East Asia. The Chinese and U.S. presidents already had a rather long list of things to discuss: thwarting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, negotiating the future of U.S.-China trade, not to mention the South China Sea and Taiwan. By launching the strike while Xi is in town, Trump may have added an another item to the list.

It is not yet clear when Trump decided to launch the strike, why he chose to hit the airfield in the early hours of the morning Friday, or which countries were, or were not, informed. Whatever the circumstances or rationale, the fact that Xi was photographed shaking Trump's hand and smiling at his declaration of “friendship” while the U.S. made a surprise military move is not going to be popular — at all.

Xi does not like surprises. Top Chinese leaders exist in a world where public appearances are tightly choreographed, the press is controlled and protocol is paramount. During the weeks of planning and negotiation that went into the Mar-a-Lago summit, every interaction and angle would have been discussed — from the handshake, to media availability, to the possibility of a rogue Trump tweet.

Given that Xi decided to attend the event, we have to assume the Chinese side was assured that things would go smoothly. But a smooth summit, from the Chinese perspective, is definitely not a summit where Xi sits through dinner apparently unaware that Trump changed course on a major foreign policy issue — or one where his presence is utterly overshadowed.

But the Chinese side must privately be wondering, “Is this a message for Xi?”

On Thursday night, conservative U.S. media painted the Syria hit as a bold but calculated warning. “He’s sending a message to the Chinese,” former general Jack Keane toldSean Hannity on Fox News.

“He’s telling the Chinese that, listen, the North Koreans are trying to weaponize intercontinental ballistic missiles and the rhetoric is they will use them against my country and my people. Don’t push me into a corner where I have to use a military option to deal with them. That would be horrific. That would mean war on the Korean Peninsula,” Keane said.

“I think he’ll get the Chinese attention for sure, as a result of that. It’s not rhetoric. We’ve had rhetoric for eight years, with passivity, and no action,” he added.

Interestingly, Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled newspaper known for its nationalist tone, also saw the move as a projection of strength. In an editorial, the paper said Trump launched the strike “to establish his authority as the U.S. president.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/07/syria-strike-adds-awkward-twist-to-high-stakes-china-u-s-summit/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_wv-syria-china-915a:homepage/story&utm_term=.1a216a1b1987

The last thing China want to see is for the US to cooperate with Russia or to extricate itself from Syria. While China wants to constraint US action via the UN, so US unilateral action will be more costly in diplomatic terms, more entanglement there or anywhere except in the Pacific is in China's favor. The strike will only put the US more at odds with Russia. For China, things couldn't get any better than that.