PRESS RELEASE
President Trump Meets with President Xi on the Sidelines of G20
July 9, 2017 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a substantive bilateral meeting at the end of the G20 in Hamburg. The meeting was very friendly and lasted an hour and a half, and was only cut short by President Trump’s departure schedule.
Speaking to reporters at the beginning of their talks, President Xi said,
"I am glad to meet with President Trump again in Hamburg. We had a very successful meeting in Mar-a-Lago in early April. After that, we had several phone calls, we built a close contact. For the past three months, our teams have worked on the consensus we reached and have pushed for exchange and cooperation in order to attain new progress. We started the first round of the China-U.S. Diplomacy and Security Dialogue. And the 100 Days Economic Action Plan has achieved early results. Both sides also keep close communication regarding the international and regional issues. Of course, we also see the sensitive issues remain in China-U.S. relationship. There is a lot of work needed to be done."
While noting differences they had on a number of issues, Xi said
“by strengthening the cooperation between China and the U.S., it benefits the world peace and prosperity, and it is also in the interest of Chinese, Americans, and people around the world. We’d like to work with the U.S., and steadily stay in the right direction to develop the China and U.S. relationship. We should mutually respect each other, mutually benefit each other, and explore areas of cooperation."
In his reply, Trump said,
“On behalf of the United States, I would like to just say that it’s an honor to have gotten to know you. We are developing, and have developed, a wonderful relationship. I appreciate the things that you have done relevant to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea—a problem that something has to be done about. And I’m sure that whether it’s on trade or whether it’s on North Korea, or any of the many things that we will be discussing, we will come to a successful conclusion.
“Trade is, as you know, a very, very big issue for the United States now, because for years, and certainly over a long period of time, many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances. And we’re going to turn that around. And I know that China in particular, which is a great trading partner, we will be able to do something that will be equitable and reciprocal.”
Trump also touched briefly on North Korea, where there has been considerable press “hype” about Trump’s alleged “disappointment” with China’s efforts to get North Korea’s leader to bring down the tension.
“As far as North Korea is concerned, we will have, eventually, success. It may take longer than I’d like. It may take longer than you’d like. But there will be success in the end one way or the other,”
Trump said.
“I want to thank you very much for inviting us [to visit China this year]. And again, it’s an honor to get to know you and your wife, a really wonderful woman. And it’s an honor to have you as a friend.”
