Donald Trump postpones first visit to China in second term over war with Iran. The shift in the route deepens uncertainty in the markets and in diplomatic relations.
US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he is postponing his long-planned visit to China, which was supposed to take place at the turn of March and April, because of the war in Iran. Trump said that he will probably travel to Beijing in five or six weeks. TASR informs about it according to a Reuters report.
Washington initially reported that Trump would make his first visit to China since the start of his second term from March 31 to April 2 and meet with President Xi Jinping there. The leaders last met in October last year in South Korea. Beijing has never publicly officially confirmed the date of Trump’s visit and does not normally provide advance notice of the Chinese president’s schedule.
Trump explains the delay
“We’re postponing the meeting. We’re working with China. They didn’t have a problem with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about the Beijing visit, where he received Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin.
The American president has previously warned that his meeting with Xi Jinping may be postponed due to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s only right that the people who benefit from the strait help make sure nothing bad happens there,” he told the Financial Times in an interview on Sunday. According to Trump, China, like many European countries, is more dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf than the United States.
The postponement of the visit, according to Reuters, further increases uncertainty in the three countries and in diplomatic circles. The war with Iran has sent oil prices soaring, threatened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and further focused investors’ attention on energy security, the agency said.
As a result, negotiations between the US and China aimed at easing tensions in connection with Taiwan, tariffs, computer chips and illegal drugs will also be postponed.
