AFP reports today: Trump announced that he will visit China in early 2026
US President Trump met with the Prime Minister of Australia at the White House on the 20th. When asked about the relationship between the United States and Beijing, US President Trump said that he will visit China in early 2026.
Trump said, "I have received an invitation to visit China, and I may go there next year. Everything is basically determined."
He said his top priority is to reach a "fair" trade agreement with China. Trump said, "I want to be a little better to China... Our relationship is very good."
Comments: This visit to China is currently only disclosed by the US side, and the Chinese side has not released any related arrangements. Moreover, variables such as the international situation and domestic politics may still affect the process and results of the visit. Whether it can truly ease the Sino-US relationship and achieve practical cooperation results remains to be verified by subsequent actions and actual meeting outcomes from both sides.
Trump's statement reflects a clear business mindset. His desire to make a "big deal" in areas such as soybeans, energy, and rare earths is essentially a realistic consideration to win voter support for the 2026 midterm elections. For this reason, he even released signals to suspend arms sales to Taiwan to create a sense of sincerity. However, this operational approach of instrumentalizing strategic issues contrasts sharply with China's principle stance.
China has clearly stated that "the US side must explicitly oppose 'Taiwan independence'" as a key prerequisite for advancing the visit process, which breaks the previous US strategy of using Taiwan to contain China while seeking economic and trade benefits. More noteworthy is that China's response has already gone beyond passive responses, shifting toward a strategic layout centered on the struggle for rule-making power, demonstrating initiative and confidence in the game. More importantly, although the Trump administration has released signals of easing tensions, its basic strategy of containing and suppressing China is unlikely to be fundamentally adjusted. This duality makes the prospects of the visit full of variables - only when the US side takes substantial actions on sovereignty issues, rather than continuing the "saying one thing and doing another" pattern, can the visit break out of the "going through the motions" dilemma and become a real window for the easing of Sino-US relations.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846546321256519/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.