Every President since Richard Nixon (except Joe Biden) has made the trip across the pacific to visit China and attend meetings with Chinese leaders; Trump followed this pattern on May 14th and 15th, his first visit as the President of the united States. For two days, the president visited and the two governments held a series of high stakes meetings. But what actually happened?
First a little background on why the visit was so crucial. For most of America’s history, China and America had positive relations. But following a civil war from 1927-1949, the Chinese government changed. China is now being governed by the Communist Party. Relations between America and China were automatically destroyed. According to whitehouse.gov, as a product of the Red Scares and McCarthy Trials, Communism was held as the enemy. America made it the #1 goal to stop the spread of communism and completely destroy it. Relations continued to worsen as China backed its fellow communist countries in conflicts like in the Korean War. Recent administrations have tried to repair relations. As both countries grew in Global, Military and Economic strength, governments on both sides understood a war could be devastating for the whole world.
So, what actually happened on the President’s most recent visit?
Both President Trump and Chinese President Xi agreed, “that the United States and China should build a constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of fairness and reciprocity.” Both leaders also agreed that neither Iran nor North Korea should have Nuclear capabilities and that Strait of Hormuz must be opened and that no countries should be able to charge a toll.
During the meetings, President Trump and President Xi also discussed a number of trade and economic relations. Read this White House Fact Sheet for more specific details on the conversations. It went well enough that President Xi will visit America this fall.