Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Donald Trump that mistakes on Taiwan could push the two countries into 'conflict.' The statement was made at the start of the two-hour-and-fifteen-minute summit in Beijing on Thursday.
Trump arrived in China with praise for Xi, calling him a 'great leader' and 'friend,' and invited Xi to visit the White House in September. However, amidst the cordial atmosphere, Xi bluntly raised the Taiwan issue — a territory Beijing considers part of its own.
'The Taiwan issue is the most important issue in China-US relations,' Xi said, according to state media released shortly after the talks began. He warned: 'If handled incorrectly, the two countries could collide or even conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into an extremely dangerous situation.'
The meeting came as Trump's approval ratings were affected by the ongoing conflict with Iran showing no signs of cooling. This was the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade, carrying significant weight as he sought economic victories.
Speaking at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Trump said: 'Some people say this could be the biggest summit ever.' Xi noted that preparatory talks between US-China economic and trade teams in Seoul on Wednesday had achieved 'balanced and positive results,' according to China's Foreign Ministry.
Al Jazeera correspondent Katrina Yu in Beijing observed that 'the overall message from Beijing to the US is that China is ready to be flexible and accept a certain level of disagreement on various issues such as Iran, trade, or technology.' However, she stressed: 'But there is one issue where China and President Xi cannot be flexible. That is Taiwan.'
