China in a fix as Trump presses for direct talks with Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump has once again indicated that he is going to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping soon. The speculation rose after Trump told reporters this week that Washington needs to be cleaned up to prepare for a summit with Xi in the near future, according to a report by the New York Times.

While Beijing has not publicly spoken about a future meeting between the two leaders, the possibility of a conference between the two leaders would be happening just weeks ahead Trump’s retaliatory tariffs which will hit China too.

Barely two months after returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has triggered trade conflicts with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union. China swiftly responded with countermeasures in February and March when two rounds of Trump tariffs took effect. And Beijing is widely expected to quickly react to the April tariffs should they come to pass.

Beijing sends scholars to US

Last month, China sent scholars to the US on “unofficial” diplomatic talks with the Trump administration to try and understand what the president actually wants.

The scholars told NYT that Jinping is concerned that the Chinese officials who have been in touch with people at the US State Department and the National Security Council are not relaying Beijing’s message to Trump.

“We talk through the diplomatic channel. That’s the normal channel. But can that reach President Trump? Do those people we talked to really know what President Trump is thinking?” said Da Wei, the director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, who is one of the scholars.

What has China been doing?

Beijing is seeking clarity on what Trump expects from China in a potential trade deal and how he might respond to its demands. China likely wants him to remove tariffs, ease restrictions on US technology exports and Chinese investments in the US, and provide assurances that he will not escalate tensions over Taiwan, the self-governed island that China claims as its own.

In an intial response to Trump tariffs, Beijing has slapped retaliatory levies on US agriculture and food exports, placed export and investment curbs on 25 US firms, suspended soybean import licences of three US firms and halted imports of US logs.

While China also wants to hold a high-level talks with the US, Evan Medeiros, a professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University said that Beijing would rather have Trump fly down to China than the other way round.

On the other hand, officials in Trump’s administration seem worried that if he takes the initial step to engage with China or visit Beijing, it could grant China an advantage before it has taken any actions benefiting the US. They fear this could lead to prolonged and unproductive negotiations, similar to those seen in past administrations.

With inputs from agencies