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China's Xi Kicks Off State Visit to DC 09/23 06:37
When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he's
expected to get a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who will be on the
tarmac to welcome his counterpart's plane instead of waiting for him to drive
up to the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Chinese President https://apnews.com/hub/xi-jinping
arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he's expected to get a rare greeting from
President https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump, who will be on the tarmac to
welcome his counterpart's plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the
White House.
Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-state-visit-dinner-04b29a32b6a47da55a6
42d4415415d7f shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China's leader
as he makes his first state visit in more than a decade.
The White House has not released many details about Wednesday's greeting,
but Trump is expected to participate in an arrival ceremony at the base with Xi
and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The salutation will kick off a three-day visit
that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The
state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on
Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked
Trump's May visit to China.
But it's also a showy patina at a time when
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-summit-tensions-ai-competition-e560910c897fe
db0448eda4cdbfdbaea over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump's
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-iran-oil-china-78b8ccd21cbc4bc0ab19a79f68372
ec0 and China's designs on Taiwan.
Beyond using the visit to try to keep
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-beijing-washington-summit-8488ef4c2944d34819
3f441199179ae6 between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the
diplomatic stops to show off for Xi. He has lavished praise on him as a "great
leader" and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend.
That's all while
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-relationship-ai-tariffs-iran-2716ee31a
fa579e9ca18ae76cbe35ab9.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, criticized the "lavish welcome." He said during a speech on
the Senate floor on Tuesday that Trump should not have invited the Chinese
leader "based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the
Chinese Communist Party."
Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at
the state dinner, such as "the purposes of China's massive military buildup, or
about China's clear support for Iran," saying that "during every minute of
dialogue" Trump should keep in mind that "his guest is a brutal, unelected and
oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive
military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America."
Trump has
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-communists-election-0e9c74b11154585531
953fa6780dd3f2, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new
"work of art" helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while
bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not.
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to try to
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-trade-iran-taiwan-f6c59000412653e445ac
bf9672ac7f47 he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi wasn't there to
meet Trump -- he sent Chinese Vice President Han Zheng instead. But there was a
long red carpet rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. Along the sides
were a military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths
waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, "Welcome, welcome! Warm
welcome!" The children were wearing white and light blue uniforms that mirrored
the traditional paint colors of the presidential plane.
Trump's airport ceremony will be followed on Thursday by more formalities,
including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before
the black-tie dinner -- which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia's
https://apnews.com/article/nvidea-huang-artificial-intelligence-8334abcbc6ed8d3d
7889b640ec6fa05b and SpaceX's
https://apnews.com/video/tiger-bag-worn-by-musks-son-goes-viral-in-china-468a28b
3a39643deb2ae705b611004ca -- the two leaders are expected to dive into the
https://apnews.com/article/bessent-ai-xi-trump-china-trade-2c7f54f07e755f506d9db
9b91df282bd behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip
will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.
On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea
with the president and first lady Melania Trump before joining them on a tour
of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view
historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.
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