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President-elect Donald Trump held what he described as a “very good call” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday that touched on some of the most vexing issues in the U.S.-China relationship.
The two leaders “discussed balancing trade, fentanyl and TikTok and many other subjects,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump gave no details but the timing of the call came just hours ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law that will impose a ban on the social media app starting Sunday. Trump could, however, issue an executive order to allow TikTok to continue operations for up to 90 days while he tries to broker a deal to save it, per the Washington Post.
Despite Trump’s repeated threats to impose a sharp increase in tariffs on Chinese imports after he takes office on Monday, he expressed optimism about the trajectory of U.S.-China ties in his second administration. He and Xi “will solve many problems together, starting immediately…President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and safe,” Trump said in his post.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry readout of the call didn’t mention TikTok but said the two leaders discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Ukraine. The statement said that Xi and Biden expressed hopes for “a good start” to U.S.-China relations and said that Trump wants a meeting with Xi “as soon as possible.” The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump had made such a request.
Both leaders “are willing to push China-U.S. relations to make greater progress from a new starting point,” Beijing said.
That messaging puts a happy face on a U.S.-China relationship severely strained by tensions over trade and perceptions of China’s threat to U.S. national security. In recent days, the Biden administration has ramped up export restrictions designed to reduce the flow of AI-related computer chips into China that could benefit the country’s military industrial complex.
China’s state news agency Xinhua confirmed the call took place but provided no details on what the two leaders discussed.
The call came just hours after Beijing confirmed that Xi will dispatch Vice President Han Zheng to Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Xi declined an invitation to attend last month.
