The Chinese leader phoned U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump on Nov. 13, state media reported, to congratulate the new American leader and to state a desire for cooperative relations. It is the first direct communication between Trump and Xi Jinping.
“The facts prove that cooperation between China and America is the only correct choice,” the Communist Party-controlled Global Times reported Xi as saying.
According to a CNN report, Trump’s transition team made a brief announcement saying that the two leaders had established mutual respect and understanding, and that Trump had thanked Xi for his previous congratulations.
Chinese state media say that during the conversation, Xi and Trump “agreed to maintain close communications and a very good working relationship.” An in-person meeting is to be arranged in near future.
During the presidential election campaign, Donald Trump ran on a platform stressing immigration-related issues and America-first protectionism, some of it directed at Beijing. In particular, Trump vowed to hold China accountable for trade violations and intellectual theft, and proposed high trade tarrifs as a means of bringing industrial jobs back to the U.S.
(NTD Television)
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