Donald Trump has landed in Beijing, marking the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade. The US president was greeted by China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, a military band, and an honour guard, as hundreds of young Chinese waved flags and chanted welcome. Trump pumped his fist before descending Air Force One, accompanied by his son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara.
The US president brought with him a delegation of tech leaders including Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of Nvidia, signalling the importance of economic ties. However, the war in Iran, now in its third month, casts a long shadow over the two-day summit. Trump told reporters before departing Washington that he did not need China’s help with Iran, insisting the US would 'win it one way or the other – peacefully or otherwise'.
Behind the scenes, US officials have urged China, Iran’s biggest oil customer, to pressure Tehran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes. The US recently sanctioned Chinese firms accused of assisting Iranian oil shipments, prompting China to invoke a rarely used blocking statute. Chinese officials have publicly called for stability while avoiding overt alignment with Washington.
Trade and technology are also high on the agenda. A sale of 500 Boeing 737 Max jets is expected to be announced, and Trump and Xi Jinping will discuss creating a new board of trade. Trump’s visit is also being closely watched in Taiwan, after he said he would raise US arms sales to the island with Xi, a departure from historic US policy of not consulting Beijing on such support.
