A former senior U.S. diplomat has called for urgent direct talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping before the 90-day trade truce ends.
What Happened: Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama Administration, expressed his concerns about the absence of communication between the two leaders. Despite Trump’s second term being four months old, he and Xi have not yet had a direct dialogue, reported the South China Morning Post.
"I think more engagement at the highest levels is the first step towards a better [US-China] bilateral relationship," stated McFaul.
McFaul painted a grim picture of this situation, calling it “horrible” at an event at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. He stressed the importance of high-level engagement and government-to-government dialogue, including a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to China.
“It is especially important that President Trump meets with Xi Jinping,” McFaul stated, emphasizing the urgency after Trump expressed a willingness to visit China for talks.
McFaul cautioned that the lack of engagement could lead to misconceptions and assumptions of ill intent between the two nations, advocating for a return to more active engagement to avoid worst-case scenarios.
Why It Matters: This call for direct talks comes in the wake of Trump’s recent offer to visit China to meet with Xi Jinping, emphasizing the importance of US-China relations.
Furthermore, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently clarified that the U.S. will ‘continue trading with China’ while reshoring critical supply chains.
The last known telephonic conversation between the two leaders was on January 17, before Trump’s inauguration, with Beijing rejecting subsequent claims of further talks by the Trump administration.
Notably, in the same event, Wu Xiaoqiu, dean of Renmin University's National Academy of Financial Research, cautioned that Washington should be careful with its rhetoric in managing international relations. Referring to Trump's claim in a Fox interview that he believed "China would have broken apart" without the tariff pause, Wu said, "Such statements do not help improve China-U.S. relations, including future economic and trade relations.
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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