TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump lumbered back to the White House on Friday bringing back with him seeds of discord from Beijing despite assertions to the contrary.
The promise of Chinese rose seeds for the White House Rose Garden from Xi Jinping, meant to be a diplomatic bouquet, instead highlighted the increasingly thorny relationship between the world’s two largest powers after their 36-hour summit was dominated not by trade or tariffs, but by the explosive question of Taiwan.Although Trump proclaimed his visit to Beijing a “tremendous success” and a “historic moment,” in brief comments to reporters (in contrast to his normally voluble engagement), the US foreign-policy establishment is concluding that the summit exposed a shifting balance of power in which Taiwan has become the central fault line in the US-China relations. In podcasts, former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci bluntly said Trump had “his a** handed to him” in Beijing, and Chas Freeman, a former US ambassador who as a young diplomat served as a translator to Richard Nixon during his breakthrough visit to China, said Americans are underestimating Beijing’s growing influence and the power shift. It now transpires that what began as a visit ostensibly focused on trade, Iran and economic stabilization quickly evolved into an intense negotiation over Taiwan, with Xi reportedly warning Trump that mishandling the “Taiwan question” could jeopardize “the entire relationship” between Beijing and Washington.
Trump headed home from the summit sounding markedly more equivocal than many Taiwan supporters in Washington had expected. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he refused repeatedly to say whether the US would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack. In an interview on Fox News, he was even more explicit about his reluctance to be drawn into a conflict over the island.“I will say this: I’m not looking to have somebody go independent,” Trump said, referring to Taiwan.
“And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down.”The remarks triggered alarm among Taiwan hawks in both parties who fear Trump is edging away from Washington’s longstanding posture of “strategic ambiguity” toward what some critics called strategic surrender. The US Prez also disclosed that he discussed arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail” with Xi and refused to commit to a pending $14 billion weapons package for Taipei.
Critics said that merely discussing potential Taiwan arms transfers with Beijing risked undermining one of President Reagan’s “Six Assurances” to Taiwan, which promised Washington would NOT consult China on such matters.The summit also underscored why Taiwan has become central to global geopolitics. The island dominates advanced semiconductor manufacturing, producing many of the world’s most sophisticated chips essential for artificial intelligence, military systems and global technology supply chains.
Trump himself highlighted the issue, urging Taiwanese companies to make the chips in America. Xi, meanwhile, appeared to use the summit to reinforce Beijing’s long-standing position that Taiwan represents China’s ultimate red line while disdaining the US offer to sell NVidia H-200 chips. American analysts across the ideological spectrum described a US president who appeared eager for deliverables while Xi calmly dictated terms.The optics of the summit eventually reinforced perceptions in Washington that China now holds the stronger hand. Trump nevertheless insisted he had secured major commercial victories. “We made great deals. We did great trade deals,” he declared even as skepticism about gains from the trip mounted in Washington, where talking heads outside of MAGAsphere appear to believe the word out of Beijing and Teheran more than what is coming out of the White House.
Trump claimed China would order 200 Boeing aircraft, with purchases eventually reaching 750 planes. Yet Beijing issued no formal confirmation, and Boeing shares fell sharply because investors had anticipated a far larger immediate order exceeding 500 aircraft. Similarly vague were Trump’s assertions that China would buy huge quantities of American soybeans, corn and agricultural products. Analysts noted there were few specifics, no signed agreements and no detailed framework on tariffs.
Remarkably, Trump admitted tariffs “were not brought up” in talks with Xi despite trade tensions being central to the visit.Trump also appeared unable to secure Chinese cooperation on Iran or win concessions on behalf of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai. During the 2024 campaign, Trump had boasted that securing Lai’s release would be “easy,” in the same spirit as he claimed he would end the Russia-Ukraine war on day one.
“I brought up Jimmy Lai (with Xi). I would say the response to that was, um, not positive,” Trump acknowledged in a rare acknowledgement of failure.Even the final imagery of the trip reflected the deep mistrust underlying the diplomatic choreography. As the US delegation boarded Air Force One, White House security personnel reportedly discarded Chinese-issued phones, commemorative gifts, pins and souvenirs into trash bins beside the aircraft stairs amid espionage fears.
