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Donald Trump has held his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing the fate of TikTok shortly before the Supreme Court upheld a law to ban the app. in the USA.
The conversation between the executives was their first in four years and came just two days before the law took effect, forcing app stores to stop offering it to users.
“I just spoke with President Xi Jinping of China. The call was very good for both China and the US,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth on Friday. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and secure!”
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two leaders agreed to “establish a strategic communication channel to maintain regular contact on key issues of common interest.”
While painting a positive picture of the call, the ministry said Xi warned Trump that the US should approach the “Taiwan issue” with what it called “prudence”.
Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has refused to rule out the use of armed force to occupy the island.
Trump’s national security team has been in touch with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming US president marks the first direct conversation between the men in four years.
The call comes three days before Trump is inaugurated in a ceremony attended by China’s Vice President Han Zheng, marking the first time a senior Chinese official has attended a US inauguration.
The Financial Times reported last week that Xi would send an envoy to Washington after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.
Some Trump advisers had hoped Beijing would send Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who is very close to Xi and wields far more power than Han, who sometimes favors Xi in ceremonial roles.
Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will unveil early in his administration. He has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and many other countries, but it is unclear whether he will do so to gain negotiating leverage with Beijing or to begin negotiations on a possible trade deal with China. and will apply fees if the talks are. not successful.
The talk comes two days before US app stores are forced to stop stocking TikTok, the video-sharing app that has been downloaded by more than 170 million Americans. The law – based on a Supreme Court ruling on Friday morning – bans the app unless its Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.
Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will prosecute companies that break the law.
US-China relations fell to their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979 during the Biden administration over issues ranging from US export controls to differences over Taiwan.
While Biden and Xi managed to partially stabilize relations over the past year, the countries remain at odds over a number of issues, including Chinese support for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has appointed several vocal China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as US national security adviser and Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.
Scott Bessent, the nominee for Treasury secretary, said this week that Trump would push China to buy more US agricultural products, such as corn and soybeans, which were part of a close trade deal he struck with China last time. .
Bessent said Trump would also be aggressive in imposing export controls that would affect China. Beijing has frequently criticized the Biden administration for introducing tough export controls on chips and technology related to artificial intelligence in an effort to slow the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.
But Chinese experts are watching closely to see if some of the tech billionaires in Trump’s orbit, such as Elon Musk, will try to persuade the incoming president to take a less hard line on the issue.
