Donald Trump had his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, and the two leaders discussed Tiktok’s fate before the Supreme Court and confided a law banning enforcement in the United States.
The verbal exchange between the executives was the first in four years and there was only two days before the law entered into force, which forced retail applications to prevent them from offering them to users.
“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on Friday. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two leaders had agreed to “establish a strategic communication channel to keep in touch with the main issues of common interest. “
While painting a positive image of the call, the ministry said XI warned Trump that the United States addresses the “Taiwan issue” with “caution. ”
Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has refused to rule out using force to occupy the island.
Trump’s incoming national security team has been in contact with Beijing; the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming U. S. president marks the first direct verbal exchange between the men in four years.
This call occurs three days before Trump’s possession, a rite to which the Chinese vice president will have zheng, which marks the first time that a senior Chinese official attends an American investiture.
The Financial Times reported last week that Xi would send an envoy to Washington after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.
Some Trump advisers had hoped Beijing would send Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who is very close to Xi and trains far more strongly than Han, who defends Xi in ceremonial roles.
Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will unveil at the start of his administration. He has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and many other countries but it is unclear whether he will do so to gain leverage for negotiations with Beijing or whether he will start negotiations over a possible trade deal with China and apply tariffs if the talks are not successful.
The verbal exchange comes two days before U. S. app retail outlets are required to be replaced. U. S. To avoid providing Tiktok, the video-sharing app was downloaded through more than 170 million Americans. The law, upheld through a Supreme Court ruling Friday morning, bans the app unless its Chinese-owned bytete sells the platform.
Trump expressed his for Tiktok, which raises whether his administration will continue with corporations that violate the law.
Relations between the United States and China have fallen to an all-time low, with the two countries establishing diplomatic ties in 1979 under the Biden administration over issues ranging from US export controls to disputes over Taiwan.
Although Biden and Xi have managed to partially stabilize their relations over the past year, the countries remain at odds on a number of issues, including that of China over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Trump has appointed several vocal China hawks to serve in his administration, Mike Waltz as national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Scott Bessent, the nominee for Treasury secretary, said this week that Trump pressured China to buy more American agricultural products, such as corn and soybeans, which were part of a close industrial deal he struck with China last time.
Besent said Trump would also be competitive in enforcing export controls that would have effects in China. Beijing has criticized the Biden direction for introducing strict export controls of chips and technologies related to synthetic intelligence in an effort to curb the modernization of the popular liberation army.
But China experts are watching closely to see if some of the technology billionaires in Trump’s orbit, such as Elon Musk, will attempt to convince the incoming president to take a less tough stance on the issue.
Additional reporting by Joe Leahy in Beijing