Trump and Xi: Strait of Hormuz for Taiwan trade-off?
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing drew the attention of the entire world, as relations between the two leading global powers have the potential either to deepen existing geopolitical tensions or to offer hope for easing the current geopolitical and geo-economic situation.
Everyone understands that, whereas the world was once divided into two blocs centred around the United States and Russia, with other countries aligning themselves accordingly, no such blocs exist today. Instead, there are two powers whose relationship and decisions influence virtually everything: Beijing and Washington. That is why Trump’s visit to China attracted worldwide attention.
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After the first day of talks, Trump described the discussions as “magnificent”. According to the White House press pool, the US president announced that the two sides had reached “fantastic trade deals” as a result of the negotiations.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said China intends to invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” in American companies whose executives accompanied him during the visit to Beijing. Trump emphasised that a group of leading US businessmen, including Tesla founder Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook, had travelled with him to China to demonstrate respect and strengthen business ties.
Notably, the original plan did not include the participation of business leaders in the meeting with Xi, but Trump took the initiative and invited them himself, reportedly surprising the Chinese side. The flamboyant US president decided not to delay matters or spend time on separate business negotiations. He later said in an interview: “China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the people who were in this room today. That is exactly why they came. Almost all of the major business leaders were there.”
Trump also stated in the Fox News interview that Xi Jinping had promised not to supply military equipment to Iran, while continuing to purchase Iranian oil.
During a banquet held in honour of the American leader, Xi Jinping and his wife were invited to visit the United States on 24 September.
The New York Times noted that Donald Trump spoke to Xi Jinping in conciliatory tones, in stark contrast to his public statements about China at home. Xi, meanwhile, offered almost no compliments to his guest and instead set firm boundaries from the outset.
Beijing’s firmness was particularly evident on the Taiwan issue. Many analysts, observing the statements made by both sides, concluded that China’s leader appeared more self-assured and quickly established a stronger negotiating position. Xi did not attempt to charm his American counterpart, flatter him or resort to flowery rhetoric. Just minutes into his speech, he described Taiwan as a “red line” and made clear that any attempt at rapprochement could fail from the outset if Trump interfered in China’s long-term efforts to assert control over the island.
American media outlets did not overlook this moment. The New York Times argued that it reflected a new level of confidence and authority demonstrated by Xi in public appearances, particularly as he watched the United States become increasingly entangled in a conflict with Iran from which there appears to be no easy exit.
Both sides spoke about the need to maintain good and mutually beneficial relations. However, while acknowledging that the common interests of China and the United States outweigh their disagreements, Xi Jinping also warned that “if everything is handled incorrectly, the two countries could clash or even enter into conflict, which would put all US-China relations in an extremely dangerous position.”
Observers believe Xi was referring specifically to Taiwan. In this matter, Washington must proceed carefully, otherwise the entire bilateral relationship could suffer.
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It was clear that Taiwan remains China’s primary concern. Business and economic cooperation are not Beijing’s main focus at this stage. Those issues can be addressed later through normal diplomatic and economic channels, provided Washington accepts Beijing’s conditions. It therefore appeared significant that representatives of Chinese giants such as BYD and DeepSeek were absent from the Chinese delegation, signalling Beijing’s priorities.
Most likely, Beijing succeeded in advancing its position because, according to media reports, Trump did not mention Taiwan, restrictions on rare earth elements or nuclear weapons expansion in his public remarks following the negotiations.
As the BBC noted, Trump ignored repeated questions from journalists regarding Taiwan, including during his visit to the Temple of Heaven on Thursday afternoon, where he and Xi posed for photographs after the talks. An official White House summary of the meeting also made no mention of Taiwan. This prompted some concern, leading US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to tell CNBC that the president would address the Taiwan issue in the coming days.
However, the exact substance of the two-hour meeting between Trump and Xi remains unknown. The talks lasted longer than expected, and it is believed that trade and the war involving Iran were among the topics discussed. The United States also reportedly sought China’s assistance regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Observers do not rule out the possibility that cooperation on this issue could come at the price of Washington reducing its support for Taiwan’s “independence”.
Everything may become clearer at Friday’s meeting — or perhaps even more uncertain.
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