Xi warns Trump mishandling of Taiwan may spark 'conflict'

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told his US counterpart Donald Trump that trade talks are making progress, but cautioned that disagreement over Taiwan could send relations down a dangerous path and even lead to conflict.

The comments came in Beijing at the start of a two-day visit by Mr Trump.

President Xi's remarks on Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China, came in a closed-door meeting of the leaders of the world's two largest economies that ran more than two hours, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

They represented a stark - if not unprecedented - warning during a pomp-filled occasion that otherwise appeared friendly and relaxed, although the US summary of the talks made no mention of Taiwan.

Instead, it focused on the leaders' shared desire to reopen the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz, effectively closed due to the Iran war, and Mr Xi's apparent interest in buying US oil to reduce his country's dependence on Middle East supplies.

With President Trump's approval ratings dented by the war, that shows no signs of abating, the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade has taken on added significance as he searches for economic wins.

"There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever," Mr Trump told President Xi in brief opening remarks, after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Mr Xi told President Trump that yesterday's negotiations between US and Chinese economic and trade teams in South Korea had reached "overall balanced and positive outcomes", China's foreign ministry said in a summary.

The talks had aimed to maintain a fragile trade truce struck last October and establish mechanisms to support future trade and investment, officials said.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump said that he expected President Xi to raise the thorny issue of Washington's arms sales to Taiwan.

With the status of a $14 billion (€12bn) package awaiting the US leader's approval still unclear, China yesterday reiterated its strong opposition to the sales.

The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.

Mr Xi told President Trump that Taiwan was the most important issue they faced and, if handled poorly, may push the entire US-China relationship into an extremely dangerous situation and cause the countries to collide or even enter conflict, according to Beijing's summary of the talks.

"If mishandled" the relationship could enter "a highly perilous situation," the statement said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and its warplanes and warships operate around the island almost daily.

President Trump did not respond to a reporter who asked whether the leaders had discussed Taiwan as he posed with Mr Xi for photos at the Temple of Heaven, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where emperors once prayed for good harvests.

They also attended a lavish state banquet where the US leader described his Chinese counterpart as a "friend" and described their talks as "extremely positive and constructive".

"We have a chance to create a future of greater cooperation and prosperity.

"The US-China relationship is one of the most consequential in world history," President Tump added.

Mr Xi said the two countries "should become partners, not rivals" and "mutual respect is key to stable" ties.

"We both believe China-US ties are the most important bilateral ties in the world," he said, and the two countries should "jointly promote the great ship of China-US relations along the right path".

"Rejuvenation of China and 'make America great again' can go had in hand."

Mr Xi described President Trump's visit as "historic'.

The leaders agreed to expand cooperation in trade and agriculture, and exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean peninsula, China's summary showed.

They also discussed expanding market access in China for American businesses and increasing Chinese investment in US industries, according to the White House.

Joining Mr Trump on his visit are a group of chief executives looking to resolve issues with China, from Elon Musk, viewed in China as a visionary and occasional villain, to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a late addition to the delegation.

The US has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia's powerful H200 AI chip, but not a single delivery has been made so far, Reuters reported.

President Trump enters the talks with a weakened hand.

US courts have hemmed in his ability to levy tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries.

The US-Israel war on Iran has boosted inflation and escalated the risk that the Republican Party will lose control of one or both legislative branches in November's midterm elections.

Though the Chinese economy has faltered, President Xi does not face comparable economic or political pressure.

Nevertheless, both sides are eager to maintain a trade truce struck last October in which Mr Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Mr Xi backed away from choking global supplies of rare earths, vital in making items from electric cars to weapons.

Washington looks to sell Boeing airplanes, farm goods and energy to China to cut a trade deficit that has long irked President Trump, while Beijing wants the US to ease curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors, officials involved in the planning said.

Aside from trade matters, the US president is expected to encourage China to convince Iran to make a deal with Washington to end the conflict, as - in normal times - one-fifth of global supplies of oil and natural gas travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

But analysts doubt that President Xi will be willing to push Tehran hard or end support for its military, given Iran's value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the US.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News - on Air Force One - that it was in China's interest to help resolve the crisis as many of its ships are stuck in the Gulf and a slowdown in the global economy would hurt Chinese exporters.

President Xi has a reciprocal visit tentatively planned for later this year, his first since Mr Trump began his second term in office last year.

During the state banquet, the US leader invited his Chinese counterpart to the White House on 24 September.

No surprise from Trump-Xi summit - Taiwan

Taiwan said that nothing surprising had come out of the Beijing summit, but China should end its military pressure on the island, describing this as the real threat to peace.

Speaking in Taipei, Mainland Affairs Council deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh said that at virtually every China-US meeting, Taiwan is one of the most important topics on the agenda.

"So at this point, all we can say is that there has been no surprising information so far and we will continue to maintain close communication with the American side," he said, adding that comments about conflict had been made before.

The real threat to peace that risks triggering a crisis is China's ongoing military harassment, Mr Liang said, not the desires of the Taiwanese people to maintain their way of life.

"If maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is truly the greatest common ground between China and the United States, then the Chinese Communist Party should restrain its own behaviour of military intimidation," he added.