President Donald Trump will hold a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China in Mar-e-Lago estate in Florida on April 6-7. The broad agenda would cover trade practices of China and global concerns about the nukes of North Korea apart from other issues like global warming. Trump has pointed out that massive trade deficits and loss of jobs are detrimental factors to developments and American companies must explore alternatives.
Broad agenda of the meeting
USA Today reports that White House spokesman Sean Spicer has indicated that this would be a first face-to-face meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump and among other points on the agenda, there could be climate change.
The Chinese military maneuvers in the South China Sea could also be discussed. The meeting is expected to be a sort of testing ground for both the leaders as they address global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest.
Trump has been critical of the trade practices that China follows and, it includes claims of currency manipulation. Trump has gone to the extent of threatening to impose new import taxes on Chinese goods and, China views this attitude as a threat to cooperation between the two countries.
The ‘One China’ policy
Another irritation is the post-election phone conversation that Trump had with the president of Taiwan. This was not to China’s liking because it claims that Taiwan as its own territory.
Trump had to, ultimately, eat humble pie and reaffirm the long-standing "One China" policy during a February phone call with Xi. Under the “One China” policy of 1979, the United States has to recognize Beijing as the real government of China, and, as far as Taiwan is concerned, it can maintain only unofficial ties.
Reining in North Korea
This is a burning topic, and Donald Trump wants China to exercise its influence over North Korea and try to rein in its nuclear missile programs. However, China is opposed to the deployment of a missile-defense system in South Korea, an ally of the United States. In this context comes another sensitive issue connected with the construction of artificial islands by China in the South China Sea.
China wants to use these as military bases and, neighboring countries have raised objections since it encroaches into key shipping lanes.
Expectations from the meeting
Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida is where Donald Trump held a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month and, the venue will now witness the meeting with Xi Jinping. Since the issues are long pending ones, there may not be any immediate results but, patience is necessary, as is the willingness to change.
