Xi Wins 'Respect' Language From Trump in Lavish DC Visit — SkimNews
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- Trump and Xi agreed to add "respect" to their bilateral relationship's official description during Xi's Sept 23-25 Washington visit, fulfilling language Xi first proposed in his 2013 "new model of major-country relations" and that the Obama administration had never fully embraced.
- Xi received extraordinary US pageantry: a tarmac greeting at Joint Base Andrews, nearly 500 service members at the White House, a B-1B bomber flypast on arrival and a B-2 stealth bomber flanked by four F-22 fighter jets over the White House the next morning.
- The two sides announced US$30 billion (S$38 billion) in mutual tariff-relief recommendations, China's commitment to buy at least 10 million tonnes of US coal annually in 2027 and 2028, and new channels for AI-risk and investment talks.
- Xi publicly urged the US to "adhere to the correct position of opposing Taiwan independence" — a formulation Eurasia Group's Qiu Mingda said may be the first time he has used that phrasing — while Washington maintains its existing "does not support" Taiwan-independence language.
- Trump and Xi confirmed two more meetings before year-end: the APEC leaders' gathering in Shenzhen in November and a G-20 summit in Miami in December.
- Chinese analysts Wu Xinbo of Fudan University and Da Wei of Tsinghua said Trump is recalibrating his approach to deal with a more confident China, with Wu noting Trump "realised he needs to adjust the way he engages a China that is much more confident."
Why it matters: By accepting Xi's decade-old "respect" formulation, Washington has validated Beijing's preferred diplomatic framework without securing concrete concessions on Taiwan, rare earths or Iran — while the US$30 billion in tariff relief and 10-million-tonne coal deal give Trump tangible deliverables ahead of November's midterm elections.
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