WATCH LIVE: Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with US President Donald Trump
WATCH LIVE: Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with US President Donald Trump
The US president later said he expected the US and China to “have a really fair and really great trade deal together” after the meeting in South Korea, but at the same time stressed he would proceed with the tariff hike if a deal was not reached by his November 1 deadline.
On Sunday, following trade talks in Kuala Lumpur, the two countries agreed to a preliminary framework deal, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer saying they were “moving towards the final details of the type of agreement that the leaders can review and decide if they want to do it together”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal on TikTok would be finalised at the Trump-Xi meeting.
In a rare comment about Taiwan on October 20, Trump said Beijing “doesn’t want to” invade the self-ruled island, saying “I don’t see anything happening”, though he did not say if Taipei would be part of any trade deal he would table with Beijing.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Beijing has repeatedly stressed that Taiwan is the “first red line that cannot be crossed”, urging Washington to cease arm sales to Taiwan and oppose Taiwanese independence. The second Trump administration has been quiet on its position on Taiwan.
Reporting by Dewey Sim, Alyssa Chen, Fan Chen, Meredith Chen, Orange Wang and Sylvia Ma
