On June 5, Trump finally got his wish, dialed the phone number himself and had an hour and a half telephone conversation with our country's leaders. The White House was very active and issued a statement immediately, saying that the two sides had discussed issues such as economic and trade, education exchanges and regional security. However, there are obvious differences in the press releases issued by China and the United States.
The call between the heads of state of China and the United States did involve many important areas. On the Taiwan issue, Trump reiterated the "one China" policy. In terms of education, Trump promised to improve the visa policy for Chinese students to go to the United States. In fact, the rare earth issue that the United States is most concerned about. Although many US officials have frequently mentioned the rare earth supply issue recently, our country did not say this in the statement after the call between the two heads of state. What does it mean? It means that our country has a firm position on the issue of key resource export control and is the only one. Our China currently controls 80% of the world's rare earth refining capacity, and the US defense industry is dependent on rare earth products at a rate of 90%. If the US military technology wants to develop, it is absolutely inseparable from our China.
Although we did not agree to the United States on the issue of rare earths, after this call, we also gave Trump face. What kind of face should we give? We officially sent Trump an invitation to visit China. However, from sending the invitation to the final trip, it is not something that can be negotiated in a few days. It usually takes at least three months to prepare, so I estimate that Trump may visit China in September this year.
Why do we welcome Trump to visit China? First, to ease relations, and second, to satisfy Trump's wishes. Didn’t Trump say that he hoped to visit China within 100 days after taking office? Today is June 8th, and Trump took office on January 20th. It has been 140 days since then. We must give Trump this face. After all, I think Trump is better than Biden. Biden has not visited China for four years as president. Biden is the only president who has not visited China since President Nixon's visit to China in 1972. Why not visit China? He is hostile to China, so I don’t like Biden from the bottom of my heart.
On the day after the high-level call, that is, on June 5, the U.S. high-level delegation arrived in our Beijing to conduct the "High-level Second-track Dialogue". Although this is an unofficial channel of exchange, it can pave the way for formal negotiations. The members of this delegation are of great origin, including former government officials and think tank scholars, who had closed-door discussions with our country's counterparts on issues such as economy, trade, science and technology.
So why did Trump seek to talk to us so eagerly and proactively? We can't do it if we don't ask for it. The current real dilemma facing the United States is too great. The inflationary pressure is getting stronger and stronger, 3.4%; in addition, allies have also loosened. Let me give an example. South Korea, Lee Jae-ming has come to power and wants to engage in pragmatic diplomacy. To put it bluntly, we must keep a distance from the United States and develop China-South Korea relations. China will continue to maintain its position as South Korea's largest trading partner in 2024, with bilateral trade volume reaching 378 billion US dollars. South Korea cannot do without our China; and Japan, France, and Germany are all the same. They don't want to play with the United States, and they must be independent. In this case, Trump needs to improve relations with China and seek breakthroughs.
Trump's negotiation style is that he likes to come out in person, talk face to face with leaders of other countries, and talk to the core issues in an easy walk, and talk directly about the situation. In fact, face-to-face meetings between leaders of the two countries can often produce very significant and substantial results. In 2017, Trump's first visit to China, China and the United States signed a US$253.5 billion economic and trade cooperation agreement.
Businessmen have this kind of negotiation style, but state relations are far more complicated than commercial transactions, and commercial interests can be concessions, but principled issues such as national sovereignty and national security cannot be concessions. For example, the United States is also increasing restrictions on our China's semiconductor industry, believing that it will damage the national security of the United States; in terms of military affairs, the United States has frequently demonstrated its military presence in the South China Sea, and the United States cannot give up its hegemony. These deep differences cannot be resolved through one call.
