By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Donald Trump will pay an official visit to China from May 13 to 15 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China’s foreign ministry announced on Monday.
According to US principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, Trump will arrive in Beijing on the evening of May 13 for what she described as a visit of “symbolic significance”.
Kelly said Trump would attend a welcome ceremony and hold bilateral talks with Xi on May 14, followed by a visit to the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet, the South China Morning Post reported.
The two leaders are also scheduled to meet again on May 15 for a bilateral tea and working lunch. Kelly added that the United States plans to host Xi for a reciprocal visit later this year.
Trump’s visit comes amid expectations of a possible trade agreement between the world’s two largest economies following steep tariffs imposed by the US administration.
Ahead of the visit, Beijing has continued to emphasise the issue of Taiwan as a core concern in China-US relations.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a telephone conversation that the United States should “make the right choice” regarding Taiwan.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has increased military pressure on the island through periodic military exercises around the region.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Thursday said the Taiwan issue remained “at the core of China’s core interests and the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations”.
The United States officially recognises Beijing as the sole legal government of China, while maintaining informal ties and defence support for Taiwan and opposing any unilateral change to the status quo.
This will be the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nearly nine years. Trump was also the last US president to visit China during his first term in 2017.
The visit comes amid continuing tensions between the United States and China over trade, Taiwan and wider geopolitical issues, including the ongoing conflict in West Asia and concerns over global energy supplies linked to the Strait of Hormuz crisis.