Xi Calls US ‘Declining,’ Trump Sidesteps Clash and Touts Beijing Trip as a Success

Shift in Leverage Comes Into View in Beijing

Trump Praises China While Staying Silent on Xi’s Warning

President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, the first by a sitting US president in nine years, underscored subtle shifts in the balance of power between the US and China.

Xi Jinping used language that Trump later characterized as describing the US as “a declining country.” Trump avoided a direct confrontation, instead saying Xi had congratulated him on the Trump administration’s “tremendous success” and signaling his desire to keep relations on track.

The contrast reflected different political priorities. Xi appeared to expect little from the summit beyond pressing China’s position on Taiwan. Trump, facing domestic political pressure, needed tangible economic results.

China Prioritized Taiwan, the US Focused on the Economy

Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 15 that Xi had referred to the US as “perhaps a declining country.”

“When President Xi very elegantly mentioned that the United States may be a declining country, he was referring to the tremendous damage that sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden administration did to us over four years,” Trump wrote. “On that, he was 100% right.”

He also wrote that Xi had congratulated him on the “many tremendous successes” achieved by the Trump administration in a short period.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not include the phrase “the US is a declining country” in its official readout of the leaders’ meeting released a day earlier, and Xi’s public remarks did not contain those words. The Associated Press and other media reported that Trump did not specify where or when Xi had made the comment.

Even so, diplomats viewed Trump’s response as consistent with the conciliatory tone he maintained throughout the trip.

In opening remarks at the summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, Trump said he and Xi had maintained “the longest and best relationship” of any US and Chinese presidents.

He called Xi a great leader and China a great country.

Trump also said he had enormous respect for Xi and the Chinese people.

“If we work together, we can do many big and good things for both countries and for the world,” he said. “We will have a fantastic future together.”

Even as Xi delivered a direct warning on Taiwan at the summit, Trump avoided language in public that could deepen tensions. Instead, he emphasized personal ties and cooperation.

He kept to that message on May 15, saying at the start of the final day of his China trip that the US was now the most closely watched country in the world. He added that he hoped relations with China would become stronger and better than ever.

Public remarks from senior US officials also stressed managing tensions rather than escalating them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the summit that US policy on Taiwan had not changed “as of today” and remained unchanged after the talks.

Rather than answer Xi’s warning on Taiwan directly, Rubio limited himself to reaffirming continuity in US policy.

He also described the relationship with China as “America’s most important geopolitical challenge and most important managed relationship,” emphasizing the need to keep tensions under control. The tone was notably restrained for a figure long regarded as a China hawk.

Xi and Trump Are Due to Meet at Least Three More Times

The conduct of administration officials and business executives who accompanied Trump pointed in the same direction. According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Trump introduced the American executives traveling with him to Xi one by one during the summit. The executives told Xi they held China’s market in high regard, the ministry said.

After the summit, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk described the outcome as “great.”

The scene suggested that, despite the tariff war and competition over advanced technology, Washington’s message to Beijing centered less on security pressure than on market access and business opportunities.

Experts said China’s aim in hosting Trump was to institutionalize Taiwan as the top condition governing US-China ties.

The South China Morning Post said Xi’s message on Taiwan was far tougher than at the 2017 Beijing summit. It interpreted China’s position as requiring management of the Taiwan issue as a precondition for at least three more years of “constructive strategic stability” during the rest of Trump’s term.

The Wall Street Journal drew a similar conclusion, saying China was trying to define the terms of the superpower relationship by explicitly tying Taiwan to the broader bilateral framework. The message to Washington was that China would not accept both strategic stability and what it sees as mishandling of Taiwan.

Experts said the summit gave China grounds to argue in the future that any US move involving Taiwan had undermined an understanding reached by the two leaders.

For Trump, the trip carried a political imperative beyond diplomatic symbolism. He also needed visible economic results.

Reuters reported that Trump was heading into the November midterm elections with approval ratings under pressure from a prolonged war with Iran and rising living costs. That made a tangible trade outcome from the Beijing trip especially important.

The Trump administration has pressed China to increase purchases of US farm products, energy and aircraft. That helps explain why the White House statement issued immediately after the summit focused on economic issues.

Diplomatic circles viewed the summit as an asymmetric negotiation in which China prioritized Taiwan and the US prioritized the economy.

The prevailing view was that China succeeded in formally positioning Taiwan as a precondition for stable bilateral ties.

Xi made clear in front of the US president that Taiwan was not simply one issue among many, but the top agenda item shaping the entire US-China relationship.

Trump, for his part, refrained from publicly rebutting Xi on Taiwan and instead focused on presenting the prospect of broader Chinese market opening and increased purchases of US goods as a political win. His repeated insistence that Xi had congratulated him on his “tremendous success” appeared aimed at avoiding any impression that he had been outmaneuvered and at selling the trip to domestic supporters as productive.

Xi and Trump plan to meet at least three more times this year. Trump has invited Xi to the White House in September. In November, Shenzhen will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, followed by the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Miami in December.

Kim Eun-jung, Beijing correspondent, kej@hankyung.com