Chinese President Xi Jinping attends an inauguration event for the Chancay mega-port at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru, on November 14, 2024. File Photo by Paolo Aguilar/EPA-EFE
Jan. 17 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed a range of issues in a phone call on Friday.
Trump said the phone call was positive after the two leaders often bumped heads during the president-elect’s first term in office, which resulted in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
“The call was a very good one for both China and the USA,” Trump said in a brief statement on his Truth Social account. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and safe.”
In a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs readout of the phone conversation, Xi congratulated Trump on his election and stressed the importance of communication between the two for improved relations.
“President Xi expressed his readiness to secure greater progress in China-U.S. relations from a new starting point,” the Chinese statement said. “President Xi stressed that the two great nations of China and the United States are pursuing their respective dreams and are both committed to delivering a better life for their people.”
The statement said the United States needs to approach the “Taiwan question” with “prudence” along with “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Biden administration and Chinese leaders have come to loggerheads over Taiwan, which the outgoing president said at one time that the U.S. would use military force if China attacked it, and navigation rights in the South China Sea.
Confrontation and conflict should not be an option for the two countries,” the Chinese statement said. “The two sides should follow the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, work more closely together, do more big, practical and good things that the two countries and the world.”
In a separate statement, Xi announced that Vice President Han Zheng will attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony in a show of mutual respect and that China is prepared to work more closely with the United States.