BEIJING — President-elect Donald Trump spoke by telephone to Chinese President Xi Jinping — leader of a country he has accused of stealing U.S. jobs, pilfering trade secrets and unfairly subsidizing its industries — and they apparently got along just fine.
The president-elect of the United States has vowed tough action to make Beijing behave. But there was no sense of rancor in the opening conversation between the two men, at least according their respective media teams.
“During the call, the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward,” Trump’s transition team said in a statement.
The conversation took place on Sunday night on the east coast of the U.S., on Monday in Beijing, roughly five days after Trump won the presidential election.
“Facts have shown that cooperation is the only correct choice for the two countries in dealing with their relations,” news agency Xinhua cited Xi as saying.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the two sides have agreed to maintain contact, build relations and work toward a meeting between Xi and Trump “as soon as possible.”
“What I want to point out is that China always maintains close communication with the U.S. side, including Mr. Trump’s team, and we will carry on doing that,” Geng said at a conference.
Xi also sent Trump a congratulatory message last Wednesday, stressing the importance of a “healthy and stable relationship” between the two countries, and arguing they “bear the special responsibility of maintaining world peace and stability and boosting global development and prosperity, and share extensive interests,” Xinhua reported.
With all the uncertainty, experts argue it is important that Xi and Trump strike a relationship early in the new president’s term.
