US president Donald Trump said on Monday he is planning to delay his visit to China by roughly a month because of the ongoing Iran war, according to a BBC report.
“We’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that it was important he remained available to oversee the war. The meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping had been scheduled for March 31 to April 2, following their last face-to-face talks in October last year.
Read more about this topic: Donald Trump’s planned trip to China will be limited to Beijing
China’s foreign affairs spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are in talks over the timing and related arrangements of Trump’s visit, while rejecting any link between the delay and the Strait of Hormuz dispute. Beijing noted that the US side had itself “publicly clarified” media reports suggesting otherwise, stating the visit “has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The BBC notes that Trump’s stated reason shifted between Sunday and Monday: he had told the Financial Times on Sunday that he might postpone the meeting if China did not help unblock the strait, but on Monday said the delay was purely to allow him to manage the war. “I’m looking forward to being with him,” Trump said of Xi. “We have a very good relationship. There’s no tricks to it either.”
The US President talking about his meeting with Xi Jinping: minute 34:45
US and Chinese representatives met in Paris in recent days for negotiations on investments, tariffs and sanctions, reaching consensus on some issues and agreeing to continue talks, according to Chinese trade representative Li Chenggang as cited by state media outlet Xinhua. Chinese negotiators also expressed “serious concern” over Washington’s plans to probe China’s trade practices, urging the US to maintain economic stability.
