Thread: Trump, in letter to China's Xi, seeks 'constructive relationship'

Trump, in letter to China's Xi, seeks 'constructive relationship'

1 Hour Ago Reuters
February 8, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump has broken the ice with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a letter that said he looked forward to working with him to develop constructive relations, although the pair haven't spoken directly since Trump took office.

The letter thanked Xi for his congratulatory note on Trump's inauguration and wished the Chinese people a prosperous Lunar New Year of the Rooster, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

"President Trump stated that he looks forward to working with President Xi to develop a constructive relationship that benefits both the United States and China," it said.

China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on Thursday.

Trump and Xi have yet to speak directly since Trump took office on Jan. 20, although they did talk soon after Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing say China has been nervous about Xi being left humiliated in the event a call with Trump goes wrong and the details are leaked to the U.S. media.

Last week, U.S. ties with staunch ally Australia became strained after the Washington Post published details about an acrimonious phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

"That is the last thing China wants," a source familiar with China's thinking on relations with the United States told Reuters. "It would be incredibly embarrassing for President Xi and for Chinese people, who value the concept of face."

A senior non-U.S. Western diplomat said China was likely to be in no rush to set up such a call.

"These things need to happen in a very controlled environment for China, and China can't guarantee that with the unpredictable Trump," the diplomat said.

"Trump also seems too distracted with other issues at the moment to give too much attention to China."

Taiwan, yuan in focus

There are a number of contentious areas where China fears Trump could go off script, the diplomat said, pointing in particular to the issue of self-ruled Taiwan, as well as trade.

Trump upset China in December by taking a phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. China considers Taiwan a wayward province with no right to formal diplomatic relations with any other country.

Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese imports, accusing Beijing of devaluing its yuan currency and stealing U.S. jobs.

In his Senate confirmation hearing, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the disputed South China Sea. The White House also vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway.

China has repeatedly said it has smooth contacts with the Trump team. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said last week the two countries were remaining "in close touch".

That contact has been led by China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister.

Yang told Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Advisor, last week that China hopes it can work with the United States to manage and control disputes and sensitive problems.

The source familiar with China's thinking said Trump's administration was "very clear" about China's position on Taiwan. Trump has yet to mention Taiwan since he took office.

Chinese state media has wondered whether Trump has a China policy at all. On Thursday, the widely read Global Times tabloid, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, noted that Trump had not immediately confronted China as had been expected because he had realized upsetting Beijing would backfire badly.

"He has probably realized that real tough action against China would result in a complex chain reaction, even beyond his control," the paper said in an editorial.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Beijing's elite Renmin University, said the letter suggested the new U.S. administration wanted to signal the importance it attached to the U.S.-China relationship without risking being confronted on specific issues.

"Trump has sent many messages that makes the world confused, like on the South China Sea and 'One China' policy, so if he makes a phone call President Xi will ask 'what do you mean?'," Wang said. "He wants to avoid this so he just sends a letter for the first step."

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/08/trump...ationship.html

I think writing the letter was a very good thing. It's a shame that there are people in our country who will make up tales concerning high level confidential conversations between our President and foreign leaders. So for now, the letters are a great way to extend in a formal way our desire and intentions for good relations with all countries, especially China, our Ally during WWII, a country that suffered incredibly during that war, with the loss of over 20 million military and civilian casualties, almost the same as Russia.

We need to work very hard to bring that Big Five together, US, Great Britain, France, Russia and China. These are the 5 nations who defeated hegemony, globalism, tyranny and some of the worst cruelty our world has ever known.

Peace and Harmony in the world begins with these Five, the 5 Permanent Members of the UN Security Council and spreads from there. When you look around, things are pretty good, they really are. If you analyze how countries have done since WWII, it's been quite an achievement, and this has happened largely because of the decisions and influence of these 5 Permanent Members of the UN Security Council. They've kept the world peace for almost 72 years.

Sometimes in moving forward, we need to take a hard look back and realize how and why we are where we are today so we can draw from the good as we fix the bad that allowed certain things to run amok for our own country, mainly from bad trade deals, massive excess immigration and unnecessary involvement and interventions in tribal wars and "regime change", and while fixing our own country expand the Peace and Harmony.

I think Donald Trump is the first President in many decades who understands this.