<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="_blank" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump's"><span>Donald Trump's</span></a><span> visit to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/china" rel="" target="_blank" title="China"><span>China</span></a><span> this week may have been short on immediate deals addressing frictions over tech and trade. But there's little question that Chinese leader </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/xi-jinping" rel="" target="_blank" title="Xi Jinping"><span>Xi Jinping</span></a><span> will be viewing it as a resounding success.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Beijing didn't need big tangible outcomes to achieve major wins, like projecting China as an equal to the US on the global stage, and directing the tone of the relationship – including around </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/taiwan" rel="" target="_blank" title="Taiwan"><span>Taiwan</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's visit appears to have delivered on both.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>WORLD:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/maldives-italian-divers-military-diver-dies-searching-for-bodies-of-4-italians-in-an-underwater-cave/d24bfee6-31f4-4ae2-afc7-10ca5d212d18" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Maldives suspends search for four bodies in underwater cave after military diver dies</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hours the two leaders spent together over Trump's three-day stay were full of great-power bonhomie and effusive praise from the American president, who called the US-China relationship one of the "most consequential" in world history.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even before the two sat down for talks, Trump told Xi he was sure the countries would have a "fantastic future". Later over a state banquet, the US president said good relations between the two could create a "future of greater prosperity" for the world – a sentiment that jibed with Xi's own toast.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All those soundbites and pats on the back created a fitting backdrop for China's announcement of a new era of "constructive strategic stability" between the two powers – one focused on co-operation and managed competition, rather than the volatile rivalry of last year.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-visit-beijing-china-vibes-xi-jinping/3cb44d3e-0175-4f22-91f2-a858277544f5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>BREAKING:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/four-fighting-for-life-driver-plows-into-pedestrians-modena-italy/50df3d67-27d8-493b-8883-28bb644b03be" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Four people fighting for life after driver plows into pedestrians in Italy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And the Chinese leader used his face time with Trump to make one thing very clear: the main thing that could derail a good rapport was Taiwan — China's most important "red line" issue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If Washington doesn't handle that issue well, Xi told Trump on the visit's first day, the entire US-China relationship will be put in "great jeopardy". Beijing claims the self-ruling democracy as its own territory and opposes the US' robust unofficial ties with Taipei.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Comments Trump gave reporters on his return trip aboard Air Force One suggest the president at the very least heard out Xi's concerns, including over the US' regular arms sales to Taiwan. They discussed the subject in "great detail," Trump said, adding that he would "make a determination" on arms sales to the island soon.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Optics as outcome</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China's diplomats were well aware of the opportunity the trip afforded them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They carefully crafted a spectacle of pomp and pageantry, calibrated to impress Trump, from a military gun salute to a rare trip inside the secretive Communist Party leadership compound known as Zhongnanhai.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And the US president reflected back just the kind of optics that China's foreign policy establishment will relish. Trump arrived in Beijing with a phalanx of top American CEOs, who Trump told Xi were there to "pay their respect" to Xi and to China.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Being granted such deference by the leader of the world's most powerful country speaks volumes about Beijing's own status. That plays well for Xi domestically and abroad, where he aims to project China as an alternative leader to the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Xi is also expected to remain in the headlines next week as Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China in the coming days.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/fifty-cent-fares-central-coast-teenager-oscar-petition-for-cheaper-public-transport/73bfd5c8-fe1e-4647-8a1b-e8afe3d82fdb" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'Cannot ignore it': Oscar's 50c fare plea is going unanswered</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A predictable relationship with the US also buys Beijing time to continue its rise across technological, military and geopolitical fronts. US tech controls and tariffs – like those at the center of a tit-for-tat US-China trade war last year – can upend supply chains and hurt companies, slowing that momentum.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's true for the US too, which learned just how powerful China's leverage is over the world's supply of processed rare earths, when Beijing tightened its grip on these strategically critical materials to fight US tariffs last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the White House's official readout didn't repeat Xi's "constructive, strategic stability" phraseology, top American diplomat Marco Rubio told NBC News in an interview from Beijing that the US agreed with China's emphasis on this "so that we don't have misunderstandings that can lead to broader conflict."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To be sure, a stable US-China relationship can have positive effects for the global economy, just as its frictions can upend trade.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But how that "strategic stability" is defined could also give China license to dispute US actions that it doesn't see as supporting that stability, especially when it comes to the trade and tech issues that raised tensions last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Taiwan talk</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The takeaway that Beijing is sure to be most focused on in the wake of the trip is around Taiwan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China's Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan but views the island as an integral part of its territory. Absorbing it into China, by force if necessary, is central to Beijing's vision for its "national rejuvenation" by 2049.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Xi didn't appear to miss a beat in making this point, even subtly. In his toast welcoming Trump to the banquet, the Chinese leader didn't mention Taiwan but drew a parallel between Trump's "Make America Great Again" ethos and his own vision of a "great rejuvenation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier in an interview that aired Friday night that "nothing has changed" about the United States' policy toward Taiwan during the trip. He also said, however, that the two had "talked the whole night about that issue" – and he leaned into China's view that Taiwan's ruling party seeks independence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I will say this: I'm not looking to have somebody go independent, and you know we're supposed to travel 9500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," Trump said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The current ruling party in Taipei backs Taiwan's sovereignty, but its policy does not seek to change the status quo by declaring independence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Under the "One China" policy, the US acknowledges China's position that Taiwan is part of China but has never officially recognized the Communist Party's claim to the island.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NATIONAL:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/meningococcal-b-vaccines-free-in-australia-mums-plea/496ba211-108b-42b8-9e16-d303a3f33df1" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Mum who lost son to deadly infection says NSW is now the outlier on vaccines</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>How the US handles its unofficial relationship with Taiwan has long been a sticking point for Beijing, which is now watching closely whether Trump advances a US$14 billion ($19.5 billion) arms deal with the island. Congress approved the deal back in January.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the Fox News interview, Trump said he was holding that deal "in abeyance" and that it "depends on China … it's a very good negotiating chip."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As he flew back to the US, Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he and Xi discussed arms sales to Taiwan "in great detail" and that he would make a decision about arms sales "over the next early short period of time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A pause on this deal would mark a significant win for China.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with weapons for its defence. A 1982 US assurance to Taiwan says the US does not have a policy of consulting with Beijing on arms sales. When asked about that stance on Friday, Trump quipped that the 1980s was "a long way."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the hours after Trump left Beijing, China too weighed in with its own read on the situation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We sensed during the meeting that the US side understands China's position and attaches importance to China's concerns, and … does not support or accept Taiwan moving toward independence," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters, according to state media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His statement also made another announcement: confirmation that Xi had accepted Trump's invitation to visit the US in the fall – opening up the next major touchpoint, potentially, for the two leaders to extend their period of goodwill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><p><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a></p></li><li><p><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w"><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a></p></li><li><p><em><strong><span>Sign up to</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine"><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a></p></li></ul></div></div>