Washington, Sep 24 Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second state visit to the US on Thursday with a formal welcome at the White House by his US counterpart Donald Trump, who vowed to work towards forging a better future for the two nations.
Trump and the First Lady Melania greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the South Portico of the White House as a military band played. The Chinese leader arrived in a black SUV Hongqi (“Red Flag”) N701, an equivalent of the Beast used by the US President.
The two couples stood together briefly on a red carpet before heading inside.
“Just as our people worked together to win that war, President Xi and I will continue working together to forge a better future for both of our nations,” Trump said in brief opening remarks at the White House, recalling America’s role in World War II.
Trump said he and Xi have forged a “truly great friendship” since his first election in 2016, built on mutual respect and the vital interest of “our people”.
No major US TV network aired live footage of the Trump and Xi meeting or the ceremonies at the White House.
In his opening remarks, Xi said he was visiting the US at President Trump’s invitation to “carry on our friendship, expand cooperation, and promote the well-being of both our peoples.”
“We should coexist in peace. As I have said many times, China and the United States as two major countries stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation,” Xi said in the remarks delivered at the ceremony in the Grand Foyer of the White House.
He said the two countries should avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” the theory that a rising power and an established power are likely to go to war.
“We do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be a healthy one, and should be kept within bounds. It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which when either wins, or loses,” Xi said.
“China and the US must hold the line of no conflict and no confrontation between us. We can certainly find the right path for our two great countries to get along on this planet. Our two militaries should maintain regular dialogue and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention. The Thucydides Trap can be overcome,” he said.
Xi touched on artificial intelligence in his opening comments, saying that the two countries had a responsibility to ensure that humans always operate AI.
“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people,” Xi said.
The two countries’ finance ministers met earlier this week, with the US proposing a new notification mechanism for AI incidents between the two nations.
No major US TV network aired live footage of the Trump and Xi meeting or the ceremonies at the White House. The boycott follows Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds.
A federal judge ordered the administration to restore access to the journalists of the banned media organisations, but the order was not followed.
Other major networks too have decided not to cover the White House in solidarity with the banned media outlets.
ABC News, the designated pool network for Thursday, has a camera crew at the White House, but is standing down as the Trump administration defies a judge’s order to restore access.
Ahead of the Trump-Xi Summit meeting, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the two sides had come to terms on extending the trade truce, forged last year in South Korea. He said it is possible that Trump and Xi could come to a larger agreement by January or just decide to once again extend it further.
Peak baseline US tariffs reached 145 per cent during last year’s trade battle — matched by China’s reciprocal levies of 125 per cent.
After Trump and Xi met in South Korea last year, the average US tariff rate fell to roughly 47 per cent, while China charged an average in the mid-30s. But in February, the US Supreme Court overturned many of Trump’s tariffs, causing taxes on Chinese goods to have more variation.
(PTI News)
