A much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will take place in Beijing on May 14 and 15, with both sides preparing to address a crowded agenda that includes Iranian oil, Taiwan, trade, human rights and technology controls.
Beyond the main geopolitical dispute, the talks are also expected to cover the possible release of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai and Beijing’s move to discourage local firms from buying Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips, even after Trump approved their export to China.
The summit was originally scheduled for late March or early April, but the White House pushed it back because Trump needed more time to focus on the war in Iran. At the top of the agenda for the Trump-Xi meeting, the ongoing conflict in Iran remains the biggest issue hanging on the talks.
“Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and anyone who buys oil from Iran is contributing to that,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. “So when the Treasury takes a step similar to the steps it’s taken many times over the decades with respect to oil refiners dealing with Iran, and you have a country that refuses to comply or directs non-compliance, that’s going to have to be a topic of discussion.”
Greer said the issue had already been raised at the staff level between China and the United States. But he also made clear that Washington did not want the Iranian oil dispute to dominate the summit or undermine any broader understanding reached in Beijing.
“We are looking for stability with China,” he said. “We don’t want this to be something that disrupts the broader relationship, or any deal that might come out of our meeting in Beijing.”
He said countries sometimes pass domestic laws and regulations that conflict with US policy, adding that the European Union has, for years, maintained a blocking statute preventing compliance with US sanctions on Cuba. He said Washington would expect “some sort of resolution” when Chinese rules conflict with US sanctions.
“What China is doing is serious. We take it very seriously. But again, for us, we’re not going to let that become the only thing we talk about in the relationship,” he said. “We will be dealing with other issues related to trade and geopolitics and foreign policy and everything that comes with the relationship between the two most important countries in the world.”
On April 28, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warned financial institutions about the risks of secondary sanctions linked to China’s independent “teapot” refineries, which Washington accused of buying Iranian crude.
However, on May 2, China’s Ministry of Commerce CALLED The Rules for Countering Unwarranted Extraterritorial Enforcement of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures, or “Block Rules,” against US sanctions against five mainland “teapot” oil refiners, including the Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) refinery. It said US measures, including asset freezes and transaction bans, “will not be recognized, implemented or enforced” in China.
“If you ignore our sanctions, you will face secondary sanctions,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. said Wednesday. “We don’t do these things for symbolic purposes.”
Rubio also commented on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s recent visit to Beijing, saying he hoped China would send a clear message to Tehran about its actions in the Straits.
“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told and what you’re doing in the strait is isolating you globally. You’re the bad guy in this. You shouldn’t be blowing up ships, laying mines and trying to hold the global economy hostage,” he said.
“Iran needs to face a cost for what they’re doing,” Rubio said. “Otherwise, if they get away with it without paying a price for it and don’t back down, you’re going to see multiple countries around the world where other countries will be tempted to do the same.”
He said China’s export-driven economy also had an interest in preventing Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, as disruptions to shipping would hurt Chinese trade.
Taiwan matters
The Trump-Xi summit is expected to discuss the sale of US arms to Taiwan.
Last December, the Trump administration DESIGNATED the largest ever US arms sale to Taiwan, worth more than $11 billion. The package includes 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), more than 80 High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) and roaming munitions, or kamikaze drones, aimed at strengthening Taiwan’s asymmetric defense capabilities. However, some components are said to still be delayed at the State Department.
“The Taiwan issue is at the core of China’s core interests and the foundation of the political foundation of China-US relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. said in a regular conference call on Thursday. “Implementing the one China principle and the three China-US joint communiques and respecting the commitments made by the US administrations on the Taiwan issue is the United States’ proper international obligation and the prerequisite for a stable, sound and stable China-US relationship.
He said China was determined to protect national unity and territorial integrity, adding that peace in the Taiwan Strait required clear opposition to “Taiwan independence”.
Hou Junyi, a columnist based in Tianjin, writes that Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, led by Lai Ching-te, should worry that the island’s interests could be sacrificed in the Trump-Xi talks.
“The main means of the United States to support the DPP’s pursuit of independence is to sell arms to Taiwan,” Hou says. “But the Iran war has consumed large amounts of American weapons and ammunition, and rebuilding those stocks could take years.”
“Taiwanese authorities must face the harsh reality that the United States’ military influence in the Indo-Pacific is shrinking and the Trump administration is withdrawing from the region strategically,” he says. “Trump’s second term depends more on cooperation with China.”
A writer based in Shaanxi says Sino-American relations will remain volatile if Washington ignores China’s core concerns about Taiwan.
“Trump may be able to return with some economic benefits from his visit to China,” the writer says. “But if the US still tries to handle Taiwan issues in an ambiguous way, China-US relations will be damaged. China will not compromise its national interests for a temporary improvement in diplomacy.”
He says the Trump-Xi summit is important as major economies, including Europe, are reassessing how to balance ties with China and the US.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the US and China are working on a Board of Trade mechanism to identify products that can increase bilateral trade without compromising national security or critical supply chains. The proposals include potential Chinese purchases of US crops, Boeing aircraft and US energy, including coal, oil and natural gas.
In fact, China has restart importing about 600,000 barrels per day of US crude oil in April, according to a Nikkei Asia report.
Meanwhile, the summit is also expected to test whether Trump can secure progress on politically sensitive human rights issues.
Trump said Monday that he would raise Lai’s issue with Xi during his upcoming trip to Beijing. while suggesting that the issue remained personally sensitive for the Chinese leader.
In his meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last October, Trump called for Jimmy Lai’s release. However, on February 9, Lai was sentenced by a Hong Kong court to 20 years in prison on charges of collaborating with foreign forces. His son Sebastien Lai called the verdict a “death sentence”, saying his father would not survive two decades in prison.
The issue centered in part on Lai’s calls in mid-2019 for Washington to speak up for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters and pressure Beijing in trade talks.
Read: China invokes rules to ease US sanctions on ‘teapot’ refiners
Follow Jeff Pao at X at @jeffpao3
