Donald Trump has urged President Xi Jinping of China to take fast and effective action to extinguish North Korea’s nuclear “menace” after the US president was officially welcomed to Beijing with an explosion of military splendour and staged adulation.
Speaking at the Great Hall of the People, the ceremonial heart of Communist party rule, Trump lavished praise on his “warm and gracious” host and said he appreciated Xi’s support for recent efforts to rein in Kim Jong-un’s weapons programs.
“But time is quickly running out. We must act fast, and hopefully China will act faster and more effectively on this problem than anyone,” Trump – who landed in Beijing the previous afternoon as part of his 12-day Asia tour – told an audience of business leaders and journalists.
“China can fix this problem easily and quickly and I am calling on China and your great president to hopefully work on it very hard.
“I know one thing about your president: if he works on it hard it will happen,” the US president added, to laughter. “There is no doubt about it.”
In his eight-minute address, Trump also issued an unexpectedly blunt, if indirect, rebuke to Xi over the US-China trade relationship, which he said was “shockingly” unbalanced and costing the US $300bn a year.
“Right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair [relationship]. But – but – I don’t blame China,” he went on. “After all, who can blame a country for taking advantage of another country for the benefit of its own citizens? I give China great credit.
“But in actuality, I do blame past administrations for allowing this out of control trade deficit to take place and to grow. We have to fix this because it just doesn’t work … it is just not sustainable.”
Xi and Trump unveiled more than $250bn in economic deals, a move one Chinese official hailed as “truly a miracle”, but sceptics believe were likely to have materialised even without the US president’s visit.
Earlier, Xi greeted Trump at the eastern steps of the Mao-era Great Hall, where he was met on a red carpet by members of China’s top leadership and a military guard of honour.
The leaders of the world’s two largest economies watched a military parade from a podium outside the venue and were greeted by flag-waving school children from both China and the US.
China has painted Trump’s reception as an unusually enthusiastic tribute to a respected foreign friend. “This trip has been peppered with all sorts of unprecedented events,” Jonathan Betz, an American news anchor who was hosting rolling coverage of the “very, very special welcome” for the Communist party-controlled broadcaster CGTN, told viewers as Trump arrived in Tiananmen Square.
Betz pointed to Xi’s decision to invite Trump for dinner in the Forbidden City after his arrival on Wednesday as evidence that rare and special treatment was being bestowed upon the Manhattan property tycoon. “This is not necessarily normal … China really is putting on a show to make sure President Trump feels welcome,” Betz said, adding: “China has rolled out the red carpet literally and figuratively … China is pulling all the stops out.”
However, Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to Beijing, said China’s claims to be giving Trump unprecedented treatment was a classic diplomatic ploy. “The Chinese are very, very, very good at style with no substance,” said Guajardo, who hosted two Mexican presidents in China during his six years as its top diplomat there.
“I can’t tell you how many times they [would say] things like: ‘Well, this is the first time we are doing this’ and … ‘Party Secretary Xi personally requested this’. They dress it up and they prime you to walk in already thinking you are winning.”
“It works. It works so well. They are so good at it … It means nothing – but they sell it to you as a huge deal.”
Guajardo recalled accompanying Mexico’s former president, Felipe Calderón, on a visit to a stretch of the Great Wall near Beijing during a 2008 state visit. “Oh, Mr President! Of all the foreign visitors that have visited, you are the one who has reached the highest point!” he recalls a Chinese official telling the Mexican leader. “You fly away and if they ask you how it went you say, ‘It was great!’” Guajardo said. “What did you get out of it? Nothing.”
Ely Ratner, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump’s VIP treatment was a Chinese attempt to flatter and impress the volatile US leader. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly lashed out at China accusing it of “raping” the US economy and being the country’s “enemy”.
Ratner said: “It’s clearly an effort to try to get him to back off on some of the more punitive actions that the administration is considering on North Korea and trade and investment.”
Xi’s attempts to massage Trump’s ego seemed to work. Overnight Trump changed his Twitter header image to a photograph of his visit to the Forbidden City. “President Xi, thank you for such an incredible welcome ceremony. It was a truly memorable and impressive display!” he tweeted on Thursday.
President Xi, thank you for such an incredible welcome ceremony. It was a truly memorable and impressive display! ?https://t.co/J9x51h1LBe pic.twitter.com/g4Z7mO5cV9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2017
Speaking at the Great Hall of the People, Trump thanked Xi for his “absolutely terrific” welcome to China and said he harboured “incredibly warm” feelings towards a man now seen as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
“You are a very special man,” Trump told Xi.
Xi was more restrained in his choice of words, although he hailed Trump’s successful and historic visit and said he hoped the US and China could “write more and more great stories” together in the future.
The Chinese president did not directly respond to Trump’s call for faster action on North Korea, but told reporters Beijing was committed to solving the crisis “through dialogue and negotiation”.
“We are ready to discuss with relevant parties the pathway leading to enduring peace and stability on the peninsula and in north-east Asia.”
North Korean state media earlier rebuffed Trump’s diplomatic overtures, one day after he offered Pyongyang a “path to a much better future”. Official news agency KCNA called Trump a “lunatic old man” and said the US should oust him in order to escape “the abyss of doom”.
An unnamed NK official told CNN: “We don’t care about what that mad dog may utter because we’ve already heard enough.”