Exclusive | China scours for bargaining chips to put on Trump-Xi summit table: sources

Beijing has called for all hands on deck to work out what ever-unpredictable US President Donald Trump might demand when he sits down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a few weeks. Several sources, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said various Chinese government departments had been told to research and assess the US leader’s potential demands and come up with possible concessions Beijing could put on the table. According to the sources, the entities included China’s Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission. Agreements are being mapped out in a range of areas but, the sources said, a breakthrough on Taiwan remained highly unlikely. China has yet to formally announce Trump’s visit, but its foreign ministry has said the two countries have been “in communication” about the trip. The White House said last week that Trump would travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for what would be the first visit to the country by an American president in nine years. One source said China was considering all means to gauge Trump’s thinking and identify possible bargaining chips, including tapping individuals thought to have close ties to the US leader. Such outreach was also being carried out via the Chinese embassy in Washington and other channels, including through Chinese academics and former government officials, the source said. For example, a senior delegation led by Wu Ken, president of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), travelled to the US this month. The delegation comprised former Chinese government officials in finance, the military and diplomacy. A CPIFA statement said the Chinese team held talks in New York with an American delegation led by Evan Greenberg, executive vice-chairman of the National Committee on US-China Relations. The Chinese delegation also met former US government officials, the statement added, without elaborating. In 2018, Trump appointed Greenberg to a White House advisory committee on trade policy and negotiations. The sources said a deal between Beijing and Washington during Trump’s visit was likely to involve Chinese commitments to buy energy, aviation and agricultural products, as well as other “low-hanging fruit” such as visa-free travel arrangements for American citizens. China earlier announced similar travel arrangements with Canada and Britain following visits by those countries’ leaders to Beijing this year. The SCMP earlier reported that Washington and Beijing were seeking to extend the trade truce they reached in October last year – agreeing to roll back tariffs and export controls – by a year. When Trump visited China in 2017 during his first term, Beijing and Washington signed deals worth US$253 billion, including a US$43 billion agreement to jointly explore for natural gas in Alaska. China National Petroleum Corporation, a state energy giant, signed a separate initial agreement with Cheniere Energy for a “long-term supply contract” of liquefied natural gas. Other deals from Trump’s 2017 visit related to car parts, electric vehicles and aircraft. But one source said some American businesses had voiced concern over whether they would be included in Trump’s trip. The South China Morning Post this month reported that no American chief executives had yet been invited to join Trump’s business delegation, as the “America first” administration was wary of being seen as encouraging US firms to invest in China. As Beijing and Washington decide on what could go into a deal for the two leaders to endorse during Trump’s visit, one thing seemed clear: an agreement on regional security or Taiwan was unlikely. In casting doubt on a breakthrough on Taiwan, the sources cited the issue’s complexity. Beijing views 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 self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference this month that China and the US could get along well, but whether that goal would be reached depended on Washington. Wang added that some in the US were “cobbling together” small exclusive circles, trying to split Taiwan from mainland China and “stepping on China’s red lines”. Asked on Wednesday about Trump’s trip, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the countries had reached “strategic stability” in their relationship, with both concluding that “an all-out trade war … would be deeply damaging to both sides and to the world”. While “issues of disagreement” remained, it would be irresponsible for the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, not to have their leaders interact with each other, Rubio added. “It would be foolish and frankly dangerous for us not to have a relationship with them, even as our areas of conflict and disagreement remain.”

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Exclusive | China scours for bargaining chips to put on Trump-Xi summit table: sources

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Government departments are tasked with researching and assessing likely demands by the US leader as well as formulating possible concessions

Exclusive | China scours for bargaining chips to put on Trump-Xi summit table: sources

Government departments are tasked with researching and assessing likely demands by the US leader as well as formulating possible concessions