Trump, China President Xi Jinping to Meet

International Desk: President Trump and Xi Jinping, the president of China, will take each other’s measure on Thursday as they meet for the first time to discuss trade tensions, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and other issues.

The two men will spend about 24 hours together at Mr. Trump’s beachside Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, in what officials from both countries expect will be a public demonstration of respect as the adversaries seek to build a working relationship.

But behind closed doors, American officials said, the president intends to aggressively press his counterpart to more effectively use China’s economic leverage on North Korea to restrain its rogue leader, Kim Jong-un, from developing nuclear weapons.

And while American officials played down the prospect of substantive discussions on trade, Mr. Trump is expected to privately repeat the tough statements he often makes on Twitter about the United States’ trade deficit with China, which has swelled to more than $300 billion a year.

How tough Mr. Trump is with Mr. Xi privately, and the reaction from the Chinese leader, may depend on the outcome of a fierce debate inside the White House about how to confront Beijing over trade.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Apr 6, 2017/Nasim