Trump, Xi pledge cooperation at Beijing summit, Taiwan unresolved

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Thursday at Zhongnanhai in Beijing and pledged to work as partners on trade and security, even as deep disagreements over Taiwan and nuclear weapons remained unresolved.

The summit unfolded at the same compound where President Richard Nixon met Mao Zedong in 1972 to forge Sino-U.S. détente, as a one-year bilateral trade truce heads toward expiration later in 2026 and China's nuclear arsenal is projected to surpass 1,000 warheads by 2030, according to the Korea Times.

The two leaders announced a package of economic agreements, with China committing to purchase U.S. soybeans, oil, liquefied natural gas and 200 Boeing jets, according to the Korea Times.

"When there were difficulties, we worked it out. I would call you, and you would call me. Whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly, and we are going to have a fantastic future together," Trump said at the opening of the talks.

Xi struck a cooperative tone, telling Trump: "China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We should help each other succeed and prosper together, and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era."

Despite the conciliatory language, Taiwan remained a fault line. Xi warned that mismanagement of the question could result in "clashes" and "even conflicts" between the two nations, the Korea Times reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in a Fox News interview, said "it is not in China's interest or anyone's interest for there to be any sort of forced change in the status quo."

On Iran, the two sides found common ground. "We feel very similar on Iran," Trump said during the Zhongnanhai meeting, according to the Korea Times. Both leaders agreed that Tehran cannot acquire nuclear weapons and that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open for the free flow of energy. Trump also said he wants to negotiate a new arms control treaty involving China, whose nuclear warhead count stood in the low 600s in 2024 and is on pace to exceed 1,000 by 2030, a 2025 Pentagon report found.

Xi accepted Trump's invitation for a reciprocal visit to Washington, with the trip expected in September, the Korea Times reported.