Trump's visit to Beijing postponed to May

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump stated that he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, after postponing an earlier summit due to the war against Iran, AFP reported.

Trump said he is looking forward to a “monumental” trip, which was originally scheduled for late March, and where Xi and his wife would host in Washington later this year.

“My meeting with the highly respected President of China, President Xi Jinping, which was originally postponed due to our military operation in Iran, has been rescheduled and will take place in Beijing on May 14 and 15,” Trump said on his social network Truth.

Trump said that US and Chinese officials are “finalizing preparations” for a “historic” visit to Beijing and Washington.

“I am very much looking forward to spending time with President Xi in what I am sure will be a monumental event,” Trump added.

The White House announced the new dates shortly before Trump’s social media post.

Trump was supposed to travel to Beijing between the end of March and April, for the first time in his second term, for a summit aimed at resetting trade relations between the world's two largest economies.

The Chinese and US presidents met in South Korea in October on the sidelines of a regional summit and agreed to a truce in the trade war triggered by Trump's comprehensive global tariffs.

On March 16, Trump said he had asked China to postpone the meeting while he dealt with the war in the Middle East.

“Because of the war, I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel. And that’s why we asked to postpone it for a month,” Trump told reporters at the time.

When will the war in Iran end?

The White House remained reserved on whether a formal postponement of the visit means Trump expects the war with Iran, one of China's closest geopolitical allies, to end by then.

“We have always estimated approximately four to six weeks (for the duration of military operations against Iran), so you can calculate that,” added press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“President Xi understood that it was very important for the President to be here during these combat operations right now. He obviously understood the request for postponement and accepted it.”

Analysts suggest that China will be in a better position than Trump when the visit takes place.

His decision last month to join Israel in attacking Iran pushed the Middle East into violence, sent energy prices to multi-year highs, and raised fears of global supply disruptions due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

With Trump struggling to define how the war will end, and traditional allies reluctant to support him, the US leader might come to China in need of a diplomatic victory.

Trump's weakened position could help Beijing seek further tariff reductions and limit Washington's ability to push for changes in other trade issues such as access to key minerals.