WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United States President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have been speaking through advisers and that he believes the two leaders will get along well.
“We are already talking. We have been talking through his representatives,” Trump said in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, described himself as a strong and powerful man who he said is revered in China.
“And I think we’ll probably get along pretty well, I predict,” he said. “But you know, it has to be a two-way street,” Trump added, repeating an accusation that China has been “ripping off” the US economically.
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Trump has invited Xi and other foreign leaders to his inauguration in Washington later this month, but experts say the Chinese leader is unlikely to attend.
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Trump has named several China critics to key positions in his new administration, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Trump also said he will impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing does more to stop trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl. During the campaign, he threatened to impose tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese products.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey)
