bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kinling Lo

Before setting off on his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour, US President Donald Trump made it clear what he wanted to discuss with the leaders of the five countries he planned to visit.
“We’ll be talking about trade … we’ll be talking about North Korea,” he said at the White House on Friday.
But while Trump appears to have it all mapped out, it has yet to be confirmed what topics are of main interest to Chinese President Xi Jinping.




Trump is expected to arrive in China for a three-day visit on Wednesday and meet Xi the next day.
The South China Morning Post asked three international relations experts what they thought would be the big topics on the table in Beijing:
China’s human rights record won’t be on Trump’s agenda, activists fear
What China wants from Trump’s visit
1. A clear statement from Washington on its view of Sino-US relations
“[Trade and North Korea] are on the US’ agenda for the meeting, [but] China has a different perspective,” Liu Weidong, a US affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
“The US likes to deal with China by touching on very practical issues first and then developing strategic relations. But China wants the US to define the relationship first, before going into the details of how to resolve individual problems.”




Trump: US will use ‘full range’ of military capabilities if necessary to end North Korea nuclear crisis
Liu said Trump had never been clear on how he saw China within the United States’ regional strategy. Also, unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, who stressed the need to build a peaceful strategic partnership, Trump had not set any mutual goals for the two countries, he said.
Zhang Zhexin, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said he expected the two leaders to issue a joint statement after their meeting, saying China and the US would establish a balanced economic partnership, expand the scope of their cooperation and work together to avoid conflict.


2. A reiteration of China’s “legitimate rights”
On the subject of Taiwan, Xi would again seek Trump’s acknowledgement of the “one China” policy as he did at their first meeting in April in Florida, Kerry Brown, a China expert at King’s College in London, said.
Xi was also likely to reiterate China’s claims in the South China Sea, and advise the US to maintain a low profile in the contested waterway, where China has already built several artificial islands, he said.
“China will also convey its view that the Pacific is a space for both China and America. It is not looking for the US to exit [the area] but there is no hierarchy among the two,” Brown said.
China going back on pledge to open up market to foreign credit card firms: sources
3. Win-win trade relations
Xi said in his opening speech at the Communist Party’s congress last month that China would continue to open up its markets. However, the arrangement had to be mutually beneficial, Zhang said.
“China is ready to open up some of its markets to the US … its cultural and banking sectors, for example … as long as it is a win-win situation,” he said.
Beijing would not “give in to US trade requests easily”, as it had done in the first 10 months of Trump’s presidency by agreeing to US-led proposals on trade and North Korea, he said.
“China will not let the US blame it for the trade imbalance. It is likely that they will tell the US to fix its trade policies, and consider balancing the deficit by exporting its high value-added products to China,” Liu said.
China-US talks: Meet the politicians and policymakers behind the presidents
What the US wants from Trump’s trip
1. More balanced trade
Trump promised that during his talks with Xi he would help narrow the US$347 billion trade deficit the US has with China. Beside him on the visit will be US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who will lead a trade delegation of 29 US companies.
“Trump will not go back to the US empty-handed, without any business deals or new trade agreements,” Zhang said.
Trump’s China trip a big deal for US firms but worries linger
2. More commitment from China to resolve the North Korea issue
Zhang said the US wanted to see China actively pushing for a denuclearised North Korea and to fully abide by UN sanctions.
Liu, however, said Beijing was likely to take a different position.
“China wants to remain reactive on the North Korea issue,” he said. “If there are no further provocative acts from North Korea, then there also may not be any further action from the US and China.”
Liu said it was not clear if Xi and Trump would discuss the possibility of talks between the US and North Korea.
What do Chinese people really think about Donald Trump?
3. A more stable relationship with China
Trump has played up his personal relationship with Xi since their first meeting, but still criticised Beijing on trade and North Korea.
Zhang said the US president was likely to seek greater stability with China in the interest of improving economic ties.
“Based on what the US needs from China in terms of achieving greater economic success, it is likely that Trump will keep his hands off the sensitive matters,” he said.
“Sino-US relations will only become more cooperative and less volatile.”


Forget China threat as real disruption is from Trump’s US: ‘old order not coming back’

As Canada and UK hit refresh on China ties, is this the end of Five Eyes?

US may have averted major government shutdown by splitting bill, but partial closure is on

How will China respond as US expands foreign ship seizures?

US-China relations

China-US talks: What are the three things Donald Trump and Xi Jinping want most?

US President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at an air base in South Korea on Tuesday. He is expected to arrive in China on Wednesday before holding talks with President Xi Jinping the following day. Photo: AFP

China’s human rights record won’t be on Donald Trump’s agenda, activists fear

Campaigners are calling for the release of Liu Xia, pictured with her Nobel laureate husband Liu Xiaobo in 2002, who has yet to be given her freedom four months after her husband’s death. Photo: AFP

In this Saturday, July 15, 2017, file photo, provided by the Shenyang Municipal Information Office, Liu Xia, center, wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, holds a portrait of him during his funeral in Shenyang in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. A video has surfaced online showing Liu Xia for the first time since the funeral. The video shows Liu Xia saying in a deep, hoarse voice that she hopes her friends will give her "time to mourn" outside Beijing. (Shenyang Municipal Information Office via AP, File)

Sophie Richardson, China Director of Human Rights Watch makes a speech at The Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. Torture, solitary confinement and coerced confessions are rife in anticorruption investigations of Chinese Communist Party officials, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch analyzing one of the most secretive aspects of China's one-party system: the supervision of its own party members. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

China-US talks: Meet the politicians and policymakers behind the presidents

US President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on Wednesday in Beijing. They last met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in April. Photo: AP

epa06107926 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gestures during a press conference at a hotel in Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2017. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on an official visit to the Philippines from 24 to 25 July. EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross answers questions at a round table briefing in Hong Kong on September 27, 2017. Ross on September 27 said he was optimistic over talks between president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping in November as they seek to reduce a trade deficit. / AFP PHOTO / Anthony WALLACE

China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan attends a news conference of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) trade ministers meeting in Shanghai, China August 2, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song

epa06215808 Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai speaks in a discussion titled: 'China's Belt Road Initiative and the Changing Landscape of Global Commerce' during the inaugural Bloomberg Global Business Forum at the Plaza Hotel in New York, New York, USA, 20 September 2017. The forum will feature more than 50 heads of state and 250 international CEOs as it is held on the sidelines of the ongoing nearby General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. EPA-EFE/ANDREW GOMBERT

U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer speaks during opening statements of the First Round of NAFTA negotiations held at Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., on August 16, 2017. (Ting Shen/Xinhua/Sipa USA/TNS)

Chinese State Councillor for EU - CHINA High Level Strategic Dialogue Yang Jiechi looks on as he talks to the media following a meeting at the European External Action Service building in Brussels, June 10, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / THIERRY CHARLIER

epa06287572 New member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo Wang Yang looks on during a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 25 October 2017. The members of the new top leadership in China represent the collective supreme power of the Chinese Communist Party for the next five years. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad meets the media at his residence in the US Embassy in Beijing on Wed. morning, Jun. 28, 2017. 28JUN17 SCMP/Simon Song

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks on August 1, 2017, at the briefing room of the US State Department in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / PAUL J. RICHARDS

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2017 file photo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Mnuchin may be new to government, but he's learning quickly that it's not a good idea to make a joke that could run afoul of government ethics rules. In a letter Friday, March 31, 2017, to the head of the Office of Government Ethics, Mnuchin says it was a mistake for him last week to jokingly urge parents to send their kids to see "The Lego Batman Movie." Mnuchin was an executive producer of the top-grossing movie, which is still in theaters. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

News

China

Diplomacy

Three experts on international relations give their views on what the two presidents will be looking for when they meet on Thursday


Donald Trump

Xi Jinping

China-US talks: What are the three things Donald Trump and Xi Jinping want most?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Three experts on international relations give their views on what the two presidents will be looking for when they meet on Thursday

Three experts on international relations give their views on what the two presidents will be looking for when they meet on Thursday