Although US President Donald Trump called his visit to China very productive, both experts and the media believe that Trump has not achieved any significant results.

Trump and his wife, Melania, were received with a pomp on their arrival to China. Trump, on advice of the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, used flattery to appeal to Xi. It is too early to talk about rapprochement among these countries. Moreover, it was not possible to solve the trade disagreements.

‘I don’t blame China. I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the U.S. on trade leading up to a point where the U.S. is losing $100s of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would’ve done same’ Trump wrote on Twitter.

 Trade issues

Tillerson said, “The things that have been achieved thus far are pretty small,” despite long hours of trade talks between the U.S. and China, adding the U.S. concerns about the pace of progress was communicated to Chinese officials Thursday, Voice of America reported. 

According to recent data released by China’s General Administration of Customs, for the first 10 months of the year, China’s trade surplus with the U.S. was $223 billion.

Trump noted that the U.S. trade deficit with China is, “shockingly hundreds of billions of dollars” per year.

“Past administrations allowed it to get so far out of kilter. But I don’t blame China. I give China great credit,” U.S. President said.

Xi Jinping, in turn, said there is prosperous future for U.S.-China trade cooperation, adding that $250 billion worth of business deals were signed during President Trump’s visit to China.

However, most agreements unveiled in Beijing are mostly non-binding memorandums of understanding and, according to Bloomberg News “could take years to materialize — if they do at all.” 

Derek Scissors from the American Enterprise Institute doubted that such deals can help solve real problems in trade relations with China.

“The president likes deals, and he likes big numbers, but we’re not going to change something he doesn’t like, like the trade deficit without changing Chinese trade practices,” expert said. “China has to have a different approach to trade in the world than it does.”

Diplomatic issues

Although Trump received a royal reception from Xi Jinping, leadership in Beijing has a low opinion of President Trump, but hides it. The only exception was made before the party congress: the propagandists of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping of the Higher Party School, said that no one abroad can compare with Si, reported Die Welt.

‘Amid the pomp that President Xi Jinping of China is bestowing upon his visiting American counterpart, President Trump, it’s hard not to see two leaders — and two countries — heading in very different directions.

While Mr. Trump is obsessed with building walls, Mr. Xi is busy building bridges

All of this positions China to become, in Mr. Xi’s words, “a new choice for other countries” and the principal arbiter of something long associated with the United States: the international order. With Mr. Trump ceding ground to China, the liberal international order that defined the second half of the 20th century could give way to an illiberal one’, wrote Antony J. Blinken from NY Times. 

North Korea

Trump believes that he is optimistic that the United States and China will find a solution to the North Korean nuclear problem. Referring to Xi, Trump said: “I do believe there’s a solution to that, as do you.”

Tillerson confirmed that there is “no disagreement on North Korea.” “There’s no space between both of our objectives,” Tillerson said. “We have our own views of the tactics, the timing and how far to go with pressure and that’s what we spend a lot of time exchanging views on.” 

The concern of the US allies on the Korean issue is connected with concerns on China's position and its relations to United States. Both countries can conclude a secret deal on North Korea that will not take into account the interests of Japan and South Korea, despite the fact that they are concerned about the growing Chinese military influence in their region, Al Bayan reported.

Trump has not won concessions from China on global politics. North Korea issue is at the very top of the list of priorities with which he went on his Asian tour, and the US president did his best to persuade China to increase pressure on Pyongyang, reported Kurier.

Unlike the USA, China demonstrates to the whole region its reliable force, said Thomas Wright from the Brookings Institution, adding that Trump's stupidity allows China to present itself as globalization champion.

According to Zhang Liangui, an expert on North Korea at the Central Party School of the Communist Party, both Beijing and Washington realize that there is no other way than dialogue. Sanctions against Pyongyang have been influenced, but their strengthening will not lead to the renunciation of nuclear weapons. The US intends to turn to military means, said the expert.

The only question is whether Trump will tell Xi Jinping about his plans and how much Xi will find them acceptable, Die Welt reported.

Based on the materials of the Voice of America, Bloomberg, New York Times