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DONALD Trump has arrived in Beijing to a lavish welcome ceremony packed with the pomp and pageantry the US president is known to enjoy.
Air Force One touched down in the Chinese capital on Wednesday for a high-stakes two-day state visit carrying major consequences for the world’s two biggest economies.
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After stepping out of the aircraft just before 8pm local time, Trump gave a fist pump to the greeting party.
Welcoming him on the tarmac were China’s Vice President Han Zheng alongside senior Chinese and US officials including US Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng and China’s Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu.
In scenes designed to showcase Beijing’s full state welcome, 300 Chinese youths in matching blue and white uniforms also lined the runway waving Chinese flags and saying “welcome, welcome.”
A military honor guard and military band also stood ready to welcome Trump.
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Traveling with the president was a heavyweight delegation of top business leaders, including Apple boss Tim Cook, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
First Lady Melania Trump was notably absent from the visit despite joining her husband in 2017 when Trump last visited China.
Trump was also joined by his son Eric Trump and daughter-in-law Lara Trump alongside top US officials like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who did not welcome the president at the airport this trip nor in 2017, is expected to formally welcome Trump on Thursday morning local time as the two leaders prepare for high-stakes talks with global implications.
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Trump’s summit with Xi was originally scheduled for March but was delayed because of the Iran war.
Now the pair are set for face-to-face talks on a string of flashpoint issues including tariffs, Taiwan and the growing battle for dominance in tech.
Before touching down in China on Wednesday, Trump revealed one of the points he immediately wants to discuss with Xi.
“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request.
“I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”
The shadow of the Middle East conflict is also looming large over the visit, with Trump expected to pressure Xi to use China’s influence over Iran.
The president is reportedly hoping China will push Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – the vital oil shipping route at the center of the global energy crisis.
Trump is also expected to urge Xi to back efforts towards a peace deal.
Robert Sutter, a professor of practice of international affairs at George Washington University, told The U.S. Sun that the tense conflict overseas has caused a dilemma, as China could risk losing Iran as a key ally if they appear too friendly with the US.
Sutter said there was a chance the Iran war could cause Chinese officials to tone down their welcome ceremony for Trump, but that appeared not to be the case as the red carpet was fully rolled out on Wednesday.
He anticipates Trump and Xi will come to an agreement about what to do with US tariffs and rare earth ores, in addition to other economic deals.
“We’re going to be talking with President Xi [Jinping] about a lot of different things. I would say more than anything else will be trade,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday, per the Washington Post.
“We’re the strongest nation on Earth in terms of military. China’s considered second, who knows,” the president continued.
“I have a great relationship with President Xi, and I think it’s going to remain that way. We have a lot of things to discuss.”
Chinese officials reportedly have plans to press Trump on the status of Taiwan, an island whose independence is not recognized.
While China has never governed Taiwan, it sees the island as a breakaway territory that must be unified with the mainland, per the Council of Foreign Relations.
In the last decade, Beijing has ramped up its military and political pressure on Taipei, a northern part of Taiwan.
Since Trump took office for a second time, he has levied tariffs on both Taiwan and China while also pursuing an $11billion arms deal with Taipei.
There has been speculation that there could be a US concession with Taiwan, but Sutter told The U.S. Sun that Trump “risks tremendous blowback” at home if that were to happen.
“They want to be seen as making progress toward the reunification of Taiwan, which is a very important objective of the Chinese government,” the international affairs expert explained.
“They see Taiwan as absolutely essential in the United States’ ability to counter the challenges coming from China. So if that were to happen, the Democrats would be outraged, for sure, particularly in Congress, and they would voice it very strongly.
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“Some Republicans would join them, because these Republicans have been looking at China for eight years now, and they continue to be very tough on China.
“The record of Congress in the last eight years has been quite consistent in seeing this as a fundamental danger to the United States, and Taiwan being essential in that competition.”
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