Washington: US President Donald Trump said that he will travel to China in April at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, announcing the visit in a social media post, following a “very good” phone conversation between the two leaders earlier in the day.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said on Monday, that the call covered Ukraine, Russia, fentanyl, soybeans and “other farm products,” adding that the two sides had “done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better.”
He said the conversation followed their “highly successful” meeting in South Korea three weeks earlier and that both sides had made “significant progress” in keeping recent agreements “current and accurate.” Trump also announced that he would host the Chinese leader for a state visit in the United States later next year.
Chinese news agency Xinhua also confirmed the call and said Xi used the conversation to outline Beijing’s “principled position” on Taiwan, emphasising that Taiwan’s return to China is “an integral part of the post-war international order.”
It stated that Xi underlined that “China and the US fought side by side against fascism and militarism” and “should jointly safeguard the victorious outcomes of World War II.”
China is currently engaged in an escalating diplomatic row with Japan following comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the Taiwan Strait.
According to the statement, Xi and Trump also discussed the war in Ukraine. Xi reiterated China’s support for “all efforts conducive to peace” and expressed hope that parties involved in the conflict would narrow differences and work toward a “fair, lasting and binding peace agreement.”
A senior Trump administration official confirmed the call but declined to specify which side initiated it, while The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing arranged the conversation.
The call comes weeks after Trump and Xi met in Busan on October 30, their first in-person meeting since 2019, where the two governments agreed to a one-year tariff and export control truce.
Both sides said the meeting helped stabilise relations after a period of heightened tensions.
(IANS)
