US President Trump to visit Beijing next month

Earlier this week, the White House press service released details about President Trump’s upcoming Asia tour, his second major foreign trip since his early summer trip to Europe and the Middle East. Taking place from November 3 to 14, Trump’s whirlwind tour will take him to Hawaii, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines where he’ll be aiming to emphasise his commitment to US alliances and partnerships.

On November 8, Trump will be arriving in Beijing for his second bilateral summit with President Xi Jinping following their April meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Though the White House hasn’t yet expanded on the agenda in China, with President Xi fresh out of this month’s National Party Congress, golf’s unlikely to be on the agenda.

Both Presidents with their wives at Mar-a-Lago in April.

Instead, trade plus the looming threat of North Korea are expected to dominate the series of bilateral, commercial and cultural events. At their first bilateral summit back in April, Trump remarked that he had underestimated the degree of political complexity and sensitivity of North Korea-China relations, and only just recently has also threatened a trade war with China over North Korea.

For his part, President Xi stated during a September meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that ‘currently the most important event in our bilateral relations is President Trump’s China visit in November’ and that his visit is ‘a major opportunity for the development of China-US relations’.

With a jam-packed three-day schedule, it’s unclear how much sightseeing Trump will able to squeeze in. It might be for the best though that he doesn't get any pointers from our Wall.

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