Zippyjuan
04-07-2017, 05:49 PM
Lost in the Syria adventure, Trump met with Chinese leader Xi this week- under normal circumstances that would be a huge headline given how Trump blasted China during the campaign.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-fg-trump-china-20170407-story.html
Chinese President Xi Jinping had just finished a steak dinner with President Trump in a gilded dining room at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when Trump told Xi that dozens of U.S. cruise missiles had just rained down on an airfield in Syria, a fiery display of U.S. military might that formed an awkward backdrop to a summit intended to introduce the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Trump had intended to press Xi for trade concessions and urge China to take a more active role in restraining North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, but the high-stakes discussions that began Thursday night and continued Friday were overshadowed by Trump’s muscular response to a poison gas attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Even though China normally opposes any use of U.S. force overseas — and has consistently sided with Russia in vetoing any anti-Syrian resolutions by the U.N. Security Council — the Syria drama may have been a welcome distraction for Xi, who was under pressure at home not to cede too much to the new U.S. president in advance of a major Communist Party leadership meeting in the fall.
Seemingly mindful of Chinese cultural mores, Trump eschewed any hint of boastfulness or the bellicose rhetoric he had employed on the campaign trail toward China, instead paying light-hearted tribute to Xi’s negotiating skills.
"We had a long discussion already. So far, I have gotten nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Trump told reporters after his initial meeting with Xi on Thursday night. “But we have developed a friendship. I can see that. I think, long-term, we are going to have a very, very great relationship.”
Xi’s trip to Florida lasted less than 24 hours and appeared carefully choreographed to limit the number of public interactions he and Trump would have. The two leaders agreed to a 100-day plan to review the trade relationship with China, to increase cooperation on ending North Korea’s nuclear program and concurred that the missile threat from North Korea had reached an urgent stage, according to Cabinet officials who described the meetings.
The two sides also agreed to a series of future meetings to tackle additional economic and security issues as well as U.S. concerns about Chinese cyberattacks. Xi invited Trump to visit China later in the year.
Chinese intelligence services have a sophisticated understanding of U.S. actions, Park said, and would be able to distinguish between Trump’s response to an attack against Syrian civilians using the banned nerve agent sarin and what the U.S.leader might do if threatened by some action by North Korea, which has been regularly test-firing ballistic missiles toward Japan.
But there was one message that the Chinese leader likely received.
“This shows how low a bar there is for the use of military force,” Park said.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-fg-trump-china-20170407-story.html
Chinese President Xi Jinping had just finished a steak dinner with President Trump in a gilded dining room at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when Trump told Xi that dozens of U.S. cruise missiles had just rained down on an airfield in Syria, a fiery display of U.S. military might that formed an awkward backdrop to a summit intended to introduce the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Trump had intended to press Xi for trade concessions and urge China to take a more active role in restraining North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, but the high-stakes discussions that began Thursday night and continued Friday were overshadowed by Trump’s muscular response to a poison gas attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Even though China normally opposes any use of U.S. force overseas — and has consistently sided with Russia in vetoing any anti-Syrian resolutions by the U.N. Security Council — the Syria drama may have been a welcome distraction for Xi, who was under pressure at home not to cede too much to the new U.S. president in advance of a major Communist Party leadership meeting in the fall.
Seemingly mindful of Chinese cultural mores, Trump eschewed any hint of boastfulness or the bellicose rhetoric he had employed on the campaign trail toward China, instead paying light-hearted tribute to Xi’s negotiating skills.
"We had a long discussion already. So far, I have gotten nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Trump told reporters after his initial meeting with Xi on Thursday night. “But we have developed a friendship. I can see that. I think, long-term, we are going to have a very, very great relationship.”
Xi’s trip to Florida lasted less than 24 hours and appeared carefully choreographed to limit the number of public interactions he and Trump would have. The two leaders agreed to a 100-day plan to review the trade relationship with China, to increase cooperation on ending North Korea’s nuclear program and concurred that the missile threat from North Korea had reached an urgent stage, according to Cabinet officials who described the meetings.
The two sides also agreed to a series of future meetings to tackle additional economic and security issues as well as U.S. concerns about Chinese cyberattacks. Xi invited Trump to visit China later in the year.
Chinese intelligence services have a sophisticated understanding of U.S. actions, Park said, and would be able to distinguish between Trump’s response to an attack against Syrian civilians using the banned nerve agent sarin and what the U.S.leader might do if threatened by some action by North Korea, which has been regularly test-firing ballistic missiles toward Japan.
But there was one message that the Chinese leader likely received.
“This shows how low a bar there is for the use of military force,” Park said.