Donald Trump ordered this Thursday, October 30, the immediate resumption of US nuclear weapons tests, shortly before a crucial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea that should seal a truce in the brutal trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Shortly before meeting the Chinese leader in Busan, the US president ordered his Defense Department to “begin testing” US nuclear weapons, after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin challenged him with a test of a nuclear-capable underwater drone.
“The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country,” he noted in Truth Social. “Russia is second and China a distant third, but they will catch up within five years.”
In South Korea, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, who shook hands during their meeting, should address in particular the trade war between the two powers. Negotiators from Beijing and Washington claim to have agreed in advance on a “framework” for a trade agreement that, in principle, the two leaders will only have to finalize.
Rivalry between the two powers
But as always when it comes to the impulsive American president, the uncertainty factor remains significant. The two men know each other well because they met five times during the Republican’s first term, but their last interview dates back to 2019.
Since then, the rivalry between the two superpowers has only intensified and, above all, Donald Trump, who returned to power in January, has launched a radical protectionist offensive, in the service of his “America First” ideology.
Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the interview could last up to four hours. “We are willing to work together with the American side to (…) obtain positive results and create new dynamics,” commented a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Guo Jiakun, on Wednesday.
rare earths and soy
Donald Trump has already hinted at a reduction in US customs duties imposed on China for its contribution, according to Washington, to the devastation caused by fentanyl trafficking in the United States.
In exchange, Beijing could agree to delay the application of its restrictions on the export of rare earths, essential materials for industry (cars, smartphones, weapons, etc.) over which China exercises a virtual monopoly.
According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Asian giant is also considering resuming its purchases of soybeans from the United States, a politically sensitive issue at a time when American farmers are suffering.
This summit comes after a particularly hectic few weeks. On September 19, Donald Trump announced an upcoming meeting with his Chinese counterpart, after a “very productive” telephone conversation.
Then the issues of friction accumulated, until reaching the one that got the American president off his nerves: Beijing’s October 9 decision to restrict its exports of rare earths, at the risk of compromising the important reindustrialization program of the tenant of the White House.
The New York billionaire, denouncing a “hostile” maneuver, threatened to impose huge customs surcharges and prevent the meeting. Before softening, in one of the turns to which we are accustomed.
“Tension relief”
“Many people see this meeting as a ceasefire, an easing of tensions between the two sides,” Tai Wei Lim, an East Asia expert at Soka University, told AFP.
The current trade agreement will not resolve the fundamental disputes between the two powers, which are economic but also strategic. Donald Trump takes a dim view of his Chinese counterpart’s diplomatic maneuvers to mobilize large emerging countries and on several occasions has been irritated by the ties between China and Russia.
But the American president also has an interest, politically, in announcing one of those “deals” that he loves while he is entangled in a prolonged budget crisis at home.
The meeting with Xi Jinping ends an Asian tour in which he was received in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea with sumptuous gifts, great respect and promises of gigantic investments in the United States.
One surprise from this carefully planned meeting could come from a topic far removed from trade: Taiwan. “Taiwan is Taiwan,” Donald Trump commented cryptically on Wednesday when a journalist asked him what his attitude would be if his Chinese counterpart put pressure on the island, over which China claims sovereignty.
Since 1979, Washington has recognized Beijing, to the detriment of Taipei, as the only legitimate Chinese power, but it remains Taiwan’s most powerful ally and its main weapons supplier.
Source: BFM TV
