Trump leaves Beijing with few deals

President Donald Trump left Beijing on Friday after a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that delivered ceremonial pageantry, business announcements and warm public language, but no announced agreements on tariffs, Taiwan or Iran. Trump told Xi at their final meeting that “a lot of good has come” from the visit, while Xi used the talks to warn that the Taiwan issue could damage the relationship if it was mishandled. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi later said the two sides had reached “a number of common understandings,” but Beijing’s public briefing did not list new tariff terms or a joint statement on the most contentious issues. ### If the visit was billed as high stakes, what actually came out of it? Beijing hosted Trump for the first visit to China by a U.S. president in nine years, according to Wang Yi’s briefing, and Chinese officials described the meeting as the first face-to-face session between Trump and Xi since their Busan meeting last October. The Chinese side said the two leaders held long discussions on bilateral ties and global hotspots and sought a “right way” for the two powers to get along. (msn.com) Reuters and other outlets described the trip as producing warm words and some business deals, but not the kind of concrete diplomatic deliverables investors and officials had been watching for on tariffs, Taiwan and Iran. AP reported before the summit that those three issues were central items on the agenda. ### Why did Taiwan dominate so much of the summit’s public messaging? (fmprc.gov.cn) Xi used the opening phase of the summit to issue a direct warning on Taiwan, saying mishandling the issue could put U.S.-China relations in “great jeopardy,” according to Reuters and CNBC reports published during the visit. That language put the most sensitive security dispute between Washington and Beijing at the center of a trip that also included trade and artificial intelligence. (msn.com) China’s Foreign Ministry had signaled before the summit that its position on Taiwan was “consistent and clear,” and it tied the matter to the one-China principle in earlier public remarks. That framing left little sign, in the official Chinese accounts released after the meetings, of any narrowing of the gap between the two governments. ### Where did Iran fit into talks that were supposed to focus on China? (msn.com) Iran was on the agenda before Trump arrived in Beijing. China’s Foreign Ministry said this month that Beijing would continue playing a “positive role” in promoting peace talks, and Reuters reported that Trump planned to press Xi over China’s continued purchases of Iranian oil. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions pressure, according to Reuters reporting on oil markets during the summit week. (fmprc.gov.cn) Trump also signaled some flexibility on Iran in separate remarks reported on May 16, saying he could accept a 20-year suspension of Iran’s nuclear program rather than insisting on permanent dismantlement. The White House had previously framed its Iran policy around preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while also saying diplomacy remained part of U.S. strategy. ### Why did markets react if there was no formal breakdown? (fmprc.gov.cn) Oil traders were already watching the Beijing summit because of its overlap with the Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on May 13 that Brent crude settled at $105.63 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate at $101.02 as investors tracked both the summit and the risk that war-related disruption would keep supply tight. Reuters also cited the International Energy Agency as saying global oil supply would not meet total demand this year as the war disrupted Middle East production. (whitehouse.gov) By Friday, CNBC reported that government bonds, precious metals and international stocks had sold off as Trump concluded the trip, with investors weighing higher yields, inflation fears and the absence of meaningful movement on trade. Barron’s similarly said U.S. stocks fell after the summit ended with little movement on trade. ### Did either side say what happens next? Wang Yi said on May 15 that the summit produced “fruitful outcomes” and “common understandings,” but the public Chinese briefing available through May 16 did not spell out a timetable for tariff talks or a new mechanism on Taiwan or Iran. (money.usnews.com) The White House news and presidential actions pages, as of May 16, did not show a detailed summit readout in the search results available online. (cnbc.com) The next concrete signals are likely to come from official readouts, any follow-up statements from U.S. and Chinese trade or foreign policy officials, and market pricing tied to oil and bond yields. As of May 16, the named participants most visibly shaping that next phase were Trump, Xi, Wang Yi and the officials handling Iran-related diplomacy and sanctions. (fmprc.gov.cn)