Washington, Sep 7: US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next month in South Korea at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
Trump and his top advisers are quietly preparing to travel to Gyeongju for the gathering of APEC trade ministers. This comes after Trump’s outburst over Xi Jinping meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit last week in China’s Tianjin.
There have been serious discussions about a bilateral meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of APEC, but no firm plans are in place, according to officials from the Trump administration.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had invited Trump to attend the APEC summit while meeting with Trump last week. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is also expected to attend the summit.
A potential meeting with Xi Jinping comes as Washington and Beijing have engaged in a back-and-forth over Trump’s tariffs, with China a key target of his administration’s trade policy. It is also recently that the Republican leader accused China of conspiring against the US along with Russia, India and North Korea.
It needs to be mentioned here that, North Korean President Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited China last week and were hosted by Xi Jinping at separate events. PM Modi attended the SCO Summit in Tianjin while Kim Jong-Un attended the military parade in Beijing, whereas Putin was present at both the events.
The Putin-Modi-Xi camaraderie was criticised by Trump, who said that the US had lost India and Russia to “deepest, darkest China”. Trump had also accused Putin, Xi, and Kim of conspiring against Washington.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” Trump had written on social media as China’s military parade was underway.
On Friday, Trump shared a photo of Xi, Putin and Modi, writing: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to the deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
However, Trump soon backtracked on his remarks, later saying his ties with PM MOdi are “very well” and that the two would “always” be friends.
