China’s Xi kicks off go to with uncommon planeside welcome from Trump

When Chinese language President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he is anticipated to get a uncommon greeting from President Donald Trump, who will likely be on the tarmac to welcome his counterpart’s aircraft as an alternative of ready for him to drive as much as the White Home.

Trump’s resolution to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews simply outdoors Washington somewhat than receiving him on the government residence exhibits how far the U.S. president goes to honor China‘s chief as he makes his first state go to in additional than a decade.

The White Home has not launched many particulars about Wednesday’s greeting, however Trump is predicted to take part in an arrival ceremony on the base with Xi and his spouse, Peng Liyuan. The salutation will kick off a three-day go to that is anticipated to be saturated with pomp, even by White Home requirements. The state go to, full with a proper state dinner on the White Home on Thursday, is meant to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump’s Might go to to China.

But it surely’s additionally a showy patina at a time when tensions between the 2 geopolitical rivals are excessive over commerce, synthetic intelligence, Trump’s struggle with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan.

Past utilizing the go to to attempt to maintain “strategic stability” between the 2 international locations, Trump appears to be pulling out all of the diplomatic stops to indicate off for Xi. He has lavished reward on him as a “nice chief” and described a heat relationship with the person he has referred to as a pal. That is all whereas he is given Xi a cross on many points.

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, criticized the “lavish welcome.” He mentioned throughout a speech on the Senate ground on Tuesday that Trump mustn’t have invited the Chinese language chief “primarily based on the entire troubling points we’ve with President Xi and the Chinese language Communist Social gathering.”

Wicker archly prompt a listing of subjects that Trump may talk about with Xi on the state dinner, equivalent to “the needs of China’s huge navy buildup, or about China’s clear help for Iran,” saying that “throughout each minute of dialogue” Trump ought to remember the fact that “his visitor is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose huge navy arsenal is aimed immediately at the US of America.”

Trump has made it clear he desires to wow Xi, telling reporters in current weeks that he was delighted his new “murals” helicopter touchdown pad can be prepared for the go to whereas bemoaning that his huge White Home ballroom wouldn’t.

On Wednesday, Trump is predicted to attempt to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this yr. Xi wasn’t there to fulfill Trump — he despatched Chinese language Vice President Han Zheng as an alternative. However there was a protracted purple carpet rolled out to fulfill Air Drive One in Beijing. Alongside the edges have been a navy honor guard, a navy band and about 300 Chinese language youths waving Chinese language and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Heat welcome!” The youngsters have been carrying white and lightweight blue uniforms that mirrored the normal paint colours of the presidential aircraft.

Trump’s airport ceremony will likely be adopted on Thursday by extra formalities, together with an arrival ceremony on the White Home and a evaluate of troops. Earlier than the black-tie dinner — which can function tech business leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk — the 2 leaders are anticipated to dive into the weighty points behind closed doorways, at the same time as expectations are low that the journey will produce any main breakthroughs within the relationship.

On Friday, Xi and Peng will likely be again on the White Home for a personal tea with the president and first woman Melania Trump earlier than becoming a member of them on a tour of the Nationwide Archives in Washington. The White Home has mentioned they’ll view historic paperwork underscoring the connection between the 2 international locations.

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Related Press author Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.