BEIJING: China and the US have agreed on a “new vision” for building "constructive" bilateral ties, President Xi Jinping said after the first round of talks with his American counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday, while cautioning that tensions over Taiwan could jeopardise relations and trigger clashes.
"I have agreed with President Trump on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability," Xi said after the meeting held in Beijing.
He further said the “new vision” will provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond, and should be welcomed by the people of both countries as well as the international community, official state media reported.
He, however, stressed that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations.
If it is handled properly, Xi said, the bilateral relationship “will enjoy overall stability”. Otherwise, the two countries could face “clashes and even conflicts”, putting bilateral ties in great jeopardy, Xi was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.
He urged the US to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.
Xi said maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait was central to stable ties between Beijing and Washington, warning that support for “Taiwan independence” was incompatible with cross-Strait peace.
China sees the self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province. It prohibits countries it has diplomatic relations with from having formal ties with Taipei.
Since establishing diplomatic relations with modern China in 1979, the US has managed to stay within the framework of Beijing's demands while maintaining informal support for Taiwan and providing it with arms. Washington acknowledges Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China but does not explicitly endorse it.
Xi said on Thursday that "constructive strategic stability" should be based on cooperation, manageable competition and peaceful handling of differences.
The framework should not remain a mere slogan but translate into concrete action by both sides, he said, adding: "Where disagreements and frictions exist, equal-footed consultation is the only right choice.”
This is the first visit to China by a US president in nine years. Trump himself was the last American president to visit China in 2017, during his first term.
Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday accompanied by a group of business leaders, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, and BlackRock's Larry Fink.
On trade talks, Xi said the economic and trade teams of the two sides produced "generally balanced and positive outcomes".
Noting that China will open its doors wider, Xi said American companies have long been involved in the country's economic reforms and that the US side was welcome to expand mutually beneficial cooperation.
"The two sides should implement the important consensus we have reached, and make better use of communication channels in the political, diplomatic and military-to-military fields," Xi said.
The Chinese leader added that the two countries should also expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as the economy, health, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people ties and law enforcement.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump described his talks with Xi as “maybe the biggest summit ever”, as the two leaders discussed the Iran war, trade tensions, tariffs, technology and Taiwan.
Calling Xi a “great leader”, Trump said the two countries would have a “fantastic future together”, while Xi said China and the US should be partners instead of rivals and cautioned that “there is no winner in a trade war”.
The meeting comes amid growing geopolitical tensions over the Iran conflict, renewed tariff disputes, export controls, rare earth supply chains and US arms sales to Taiwan.
The meetings are also being closely watched for any breakthrough on the US-Iran conflict and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies supplies pass.