Donald Trump on Friday vowed that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would build a strong relationship after they spoke by telephone, days before the incoming US president takes power.
“The call was a very good one for both China and the USA,” Trump said on his social media platform. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. 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!” he added.
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China’s Xi said he hoped for a “good start” to relations with Trump’s new administration, Chinese state media reported.
“We both attach great importance to mutual interaction (and) hope that China-US relations will have a good start in the new term of the US president”, Xi said according to CCTV.
Trump waged a bitter trade war with China during his first term, slapping onerous tariffs on imports from the world’s second-largest economy.
He has threatened to impose more severe measures this time around, accusing Beijing of unfair trade practices and contributing to a devastating fentanyl crisis in the United States.
On Thursday, Beijing slammed comments by Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, as “unwarranted attacks” after the senator – in his confirmation hearing – called China “the most … dangerous near-peer adversary” the US had ever faced.
“The US side must establish a correct understanding of China, cease unwarranted attacks and smear campaigns against China,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing.
In December, Xi said China was willing to engage in dialogue and “expand cooperation” with the US, but warned that a trade war would have “no winners”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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