China’s Xi calls Trump to discuss Taiwan and Ukraine

In an unusual diplomatic move, China’s leader Xi Jinping initiated a phone call with President Trump on Monday to discuss Taiwan, a flashpoint that has surged to the forefront in recent days as Japan takes a more assertive stance on the island’s autonomy.

While Taiwan was Xi’s focus, Trump steered the conversation to Ukraine, said people familiar with the matter, as Washington-Kyiv peace talks appear to make progress and Trump tries to decisively end Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

“We discussed many topics including Ukraine/Russia, Fentanyl, Soybeans and other Farm Products, etc. We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better,” President Trump wrote. “Our relationship with China is extremely strong!”

He also noted that the two leaders had agreed to reciprocal in-person meetings. The first will be a meeting in Beijing in April. A state visit in the US will be scheduled later in the year, Trump wrote.  “We agreed that it is important that we communicate often, which I look forward to doing.”

Earlier, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said, “The two sides are implementing all elements of what we agreed to” when the two leaders met in Busan, South Korea, late last month.

That consensus involved the United States agreeing to lower tariffs on Chinese goods, and China agreeing to pause new export controls on rare earth minerals, among other stipulationsthat lowered the temperature in their ongoing trade war.

“The China-US relationship has generally maintained a steady and positive trajectory” since the Busan meeting, Beijing said in the statement on Monday. Trump and Xi also discussed Ukraine, which is currently in talks with the US over a peace plan that the Trump administration wants Kyiv to agree to by Thanksgiving.

Xi “emphasized China’s support for all efforts that are conducive to peace,” according to Beijing’s readout of the call. The Chinese leader also reiterated his country’s view that Taiwan should “return to China.”

Trump said that the US “understands how important the Taiwan question is to China,” the foreign ministry’s statement said. How the two countries will address the Taiwan issue in the coming years and avoid conflict remains to be seen, though this dialogue is a sign that it is possible that things could be worked out diplomatically.