BEIJING - Donald Trump landed at Beijing Capital Airport on Wednesday, May 13, becoming the first U.S. president to visit China since 2017. On Thursday morning, he entered the Great Hall of the People's Assembly, where he was greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping - kicking off a two-day summit that analysts are calling one of the riskiest diplomatic moments of the past decade.

Xi's first question in the chamber was: can we avoid the Thucydides Trap, a historical pattern in which tensions between rising and ruling powers have repeatedly ended in war? „China and the United States should be partners, not rivals. I ask whether we can face the great challenges together for global stability and work towards a brighter future for humanity,“ Xi said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. He described Taiwan as „the most important question“ U.S.-China relations and warned that if not properly addressed, the relationship between the two countries could bring the "nebezpečné místo".

Trump responded in his obligatory confident style: he described relations with the Chinese president as "fantastické" and announced that the summit would be „great for both countries". Asked by reporters whether Taiwan would be addressed, he said briefly: „We'll discuss everything.“

Trump's delegation consists of over seventeen heads of the largest US corporations - the list of names functions as an industrial map of the US economy. Elon Musk z Tesly a SpaceX, Tim Cook z Apple, Jensen Huang from Nvidia - who joined the group at the last minute during a layover in Alaska - Larry Fink z BlackRock, Kelly Ortberg z Boeingu, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, the heads of Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Micron, Qualcomm, Meta and Visa. For all of them, China is both a key manufacturing hub and a huge consumer market - and they couldn't afford to be absent.

On the Chinese side, the summit was attended by the head of diplomacy Wang Yi a Zheng Shanjie from the economic planning office. On the American side, the Secretary of State was present Marco Rubio i ministr obrany Pete Hegseth, who met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Junem.

The agenda of the summit is packed. Trump's primary targets are trade agreements - China's commitments to buy US agricultural products, Boeing aircraft and energy raw materials. The White House has indicated an intention to establish a U.S.-China Trade and Investment Council. Trump also wants to get pressure from Xi on Tehran: China is Iran's biggest oil customer and could play a mediating role in a conflict that has decimated global energy markets for more than two months. On the eve of the summit, Secretary Rubio urged Beijing to use its influence over Iran to restore the passage of the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese side remained diplomatically cautious - it does not want to be identified with the US approach to Tehran, even though Beijing is also suffering from energy shock.

The war in Iran hangs over the entire summit like a heavy shadow. Trump has admitted that the ceasefire is on „massive life support“ and his advisers have not ruled out a resumption of combat operations. The summit was originally scheduled for March, but the US attack on Iran on February 28 pushed it back. Analysts warn that the longer the conflict lasts, the more leverage Beijing gains. „China is Iran's largest trading partner and a major buyer of its oil. This gives it a strategic position,“ říká analytik Dong from Washington's Stimson Center.

The results of the summit are due to be announced on Friday 15 May.

gnews.cz - GH