Trump to visit China next year, aims for 'fair' trade deal with Xi
US President Trump expresses confidence in relationship with President Xi, doubts China will invade Taiwan, prioritising a trade deal at upcoming Asia-Pacific summit.
US President Donald Trump said that he would travel to China early next year, and expected to seal a trade deal in South Korea with President Xi Jinping later this month despite a recent row over tariffs.
"I've been invited to go to China, and I'll be doing that sometime fairly early next year. We have it sort of set," Trump told reporters on Monday as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House.
Trump voiced doubt that China would invade Taiwan as he voiced confidence in his relationship with counterpart Xi Jinping, whom he will meet later this month.
Trump was asked about an earlier Pentagon assessment that Xi was eying 2027 to attempt to seize Taiwan, a democratic self-governing island claimed by China.
"I think we'll be just fine with China. China doesn't want to do that," Trump told reporters on Monday as he met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Speaking of Xi's designs on Taiwan, Trump said: "Now that doesn't mean it's not the apple of his eye, because probably it is, but I don't see anything happening."
Without explicitly saying he would authorise force to defend Taiwan, Trump said that China knows that the United States "is the strongest military power in the world by far."
"We have the best of everything, and nobody's going to mess with that. And I don't see that at all with President Xi," Trump said.
"I think we're going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and others," he said.
'Fair' trade deal with China
Trump said his priority was reaching a "fair" trade deal with China. He declined to answer a question on whether he would sacrifice US support for Taiwan as part of an agreement with Xi.
"I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi. We have a great relationship," Trump said.
The United States recognises only Beijing and not Taiwan, where the Chinese mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the civil war to the communists and which has since turned into a technology hub.
Under US law, the United States is required to provide Taiwan weapons for its self-defence but Washington has been deliberately ambiguous on whether it would use force to defend Taiwan.
Trump's predecessor Joe Biden repeatedly suggested he would order the US military to intervene if China moved on Taiwan.