US President Donald Trump rated his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping with a "12 out of 10", describing the talks in Washington as "very respectful, very good" and "great". The assessment was given to journalists at the White House after the talks between the two leaders.
“I would rate it a 12 out of 10. Very respectful, very good, great meeting“, Trump said.
Disagreement over American weapons
The American president denied that he had suggested to Xi Jinping that China buy weapons from the United States. “I have never heard of such a thing. They would probably want to buy it because we produce better equipment, but we have not discussed that“, Trump said.
Thus he refuted the story of the US Ambassador to China David Perdue. In a television interview, Perdue said that Trump explained to the Chinese leader that Washington sells weapons to various countries, then asked him if China would like to buy American weapons. The ambassador did not specify when the question was asked, what systems were discussed or how Xi Jinping reacted.
Perdue also said that the topic of US arms sales to Taiwan is discussed between Trump and Xi in every meeting they have had. The discrepancy between the words of the president and the ambassador leaves it unconfirmed whether the question of a possible purchase of US weapons was raised as a serious proposal or in another context.
Taiwan remains a sensitive topic
The meeting in Washington took place during Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States. Previous talks between the two leaders were held in Beijing in May, when among the topics discussed were Taiwan and US arms sales to the island.
US authorities have meanwhile stated that there is no plan to sell arms to China, and current US law prohibits such deals. It is only confirmed that Trump rejects Perdue's version of the conversation, while the ambassador himself claims that the president asked the question.
Sources: RBC