Donald Trump says he discussed TikTok in first call with Xi Jinping since 2021

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Donald Trump had his first phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing the fate of TikTok just before the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app in the US.

The conversation between the leaders was their first in four years and came just two days before the law took effect, forcing app stores to stop offering it to users.

“I just spoke with President Xi Jinping. The call was very good for both China and the US,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth on Friday. “We discussed Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and safer.”

Chinese state media also confirmed the call on Friday, but gave no details, including any discussion of TikTok. TrumpThe incoming national security team has been in contact with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the future US president marks the first direct conversation between the men in four years.

The call comes three days before Trump’s inauguration, in a ceremony that will be attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, marking the first time a top Chinese official has attended a US inauguration.

It reports the Financial Times Xi will send an envoy to Washington last week after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.

Some Trump advisers had hoped Beijing would send Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who is very close to Xi and wields far more power than Han, who sometimes acts in ceremonial roles for Xi.

Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will reveal at the beginning of his administration. He has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and many other countries, but it is unclear whether he will do so to gain leverage in negotiations with Beijing, or if he will open talks on a possible trade deal with China and impose tariffs if the talks fail. not successful.

The talk comes two days before U.S. app stores will be forced to shut down TikTok, the video-sharing app that has been downloaded by more than 170 million Americans Chinese owner ByteDance not to sell the platform.

Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will go after companies that break the law.

US-China relations have fallen to their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979 under the Biden administration amid disagreements over issues ranging from US export controls to Taiwan.

While Biden and Xi have managed to partially stabilize relations over the past year, the countries remain at loggerheads over a number of issues, including China’s support for Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Trump has appointed several prominent China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as US national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Besant said this week that Trump would force China to buy more U.S. agricultural products, such as corn and soybeans, that were part of a narrow trade deal with China last time.

Besant said Trump would also be aggressive in imposing export controls that would affect China. Beijing has often criticized the Biden administration for imposing tough export controls on chips and AI-related technology in an effort to slow the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.

But China experts are watching closely to see if some of the tech billionaires in Trump’s orbit, such as Elon Musk, will try to persuade the incoming president to take a less hard line on the issue.