Trump: "Buy U.S. oil and gas"… Xi Jinping: "Stop selling weapons to Taiwan"

A 'war of nerves' as they speak by phone for the first time in two months

Call held one day before 'New START' expires

Xi holds a videoconference with Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call for the first time in about two months to discuss bilateral ties, the Taiwan issue and other global matters. While both leaders expressed hopes for stable relations, they continued a subtle war of nerves.

According to state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 5th, Xi and Trump spoke by phone on the 4th, their first call since Nov. 24 last year. Trump said on social media that he had "just finished a great phone call with President Xi." He added that they discussed key topics including "trade, the military, an April trip for my much-anticipated visit to China, Taiwan, the Russia-Ukraine war, Iran’s current situation, China’s purchases of U.S. oil and gas, China’s consideration of additional agricultural purchases, and the supply of aircraft engines," saying "everything was positive."

On the Taiwan issue, Xi said it is "the most important" matter in China-U.S. relations, adding that "Taiwan is Chinese territory, and China will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and will never tolerate Taiwan’s separation." He stressed that "the United States must handle the issue of selling weapons to Taiwan with great prudence."

Xinhua reported that Trump said he "attaches importance to China’s concerns" over Taiwan and "wants to maintain communication with China and keep China-U.S. relations better and more stable" during his term.

The international community is also focusing on the inclusion of China’s purchases of U.S. oil and gas in the leaders’ call. If Trump’s account is accurate, the discussion can be seen as exploring a plan for China—whose oil and gas imports have been sourced mainly from Russia, Iran and Venezuela—to replace part of those volumes with U.S. supplies. The United States is controlling Venezuela’s oil exports, one of China’s oil import sources.

Xi also held a videoconference with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before the call with Trump. Xi’s series of high-level contacts is being viewed as meaningful given the timing ahead of the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), a U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear arms limits agreement, and amid talk of a possible three-way peace meeting involving the United States, Russia and Ukraine.

Beijing=Correspondent Kim Eun-jung kej@hankyung.com