During a meeting with US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping will try to convince him to reduce support for Taiwan, according to an editorial in The New York Times (NYT).
According to observers, the trade tension between China and the United States will not be the main topic of the upcoming meeting for Xi Jinping. "He will pursue a longer-term goal of persuading the American president to loosen US support for Taiwan," the NYT believes.
The publication reminded that "Trump has already complained that Taiwan spends too little on its military forces and unfairly maintains its leading position in the field of semiconductor production."
Moreover, the US imposed new tariffs on the island and "restricted some relations with Taiwan".
Given these facts, as well as the fact that Trump "wants to focus on trade" during his meeting with Xi Jinping, the NYT continues, the Chinese leader's goals may be partially realized.
The newspaper believes that Xi Jinping "obviously wants to hear Trump's statements that the United States does not support Taiwan's independence." Such a statement would reflect statements made by previous American administrations, the newspaper notes, but it would be important for Beijing to hear it from Trump as well.
