President Donald Trump notified Congress on Saturday of the United States missile strikes on Syria days after the event, warning ominously of further actions “as necessary”.
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Thursday: 4pm: Trump lands at his private Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and is whisked to another meeting with the National Security Council where military options are now homed in on a Tomahawk cruise missile strike at Al Shayrat airfield which, they say, was used to launch the Syrian government warplanes that dropped the chemical weapons.
Trump already set the tone for his first face-to-face meeting with Xi by tweeting last week that the trade deficit would be key to the discussions.
Trump also noted the importance of protecting human rights, and asked China to adhere to global norms in the seas of East Asia.
He added that he and Trump, during the meeting, have also gained better understanding of each other, cemented their mutual trust, scored many major consensuses, and built up a good working relationship. For the peace and stability of the world, we will also fulfill our historical responsibility, ” Xi said Friday, according to Reuters.
Syrian state media is reporting that in addition to the military deaths, nine civlians, including four children, were killed in U.S. airstrike.
By and large, the summit ended up as a surprisingly sober and admirable diplomatic icebreaker, holding the promise of more institutionalised dialogue between the two most consequential powers of the century.
China’s economy is to maintain sound momentum of development, and China and the United States enjoy broad prospects in economic and trade cooperation, said Xi, urging the two sides to grasp the opportunity. They reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearization of the divided Korean Peninsula.
Tillerson said Xi told Trump that he “understood that such a response was necessary when people are killing children” and expressed “an appreciation” to Trump for informing him of the number of missiles that were launched and explaining the rationale behind the strike.
Fourth, the USA and China agreed to expand the Strategic Security and Economic Dialogue (the pillar of their relations under former US president Barack Obama) from two to four pillars, adding a pillar on law enforcement and cybersecurity, and a fourth unexpected pillar on social and cultural issues.
We had previously reported that the caption below Donald Trump’s portrait read: “We love you” as a sign of thanks for President Trump in the wake of the bombing raid on the Syrian airbase. China has increased pressure and imposed restrictions on some South Korean companies doing business in China, which led many in the South to believe Beijing was retaliating against the deployment of the missile system.
As Xi left Mar-a-Lago, what became clear is that hard work in US-China relations in the Trump era still lies ahead.
Following the airstrikes on Friday, the U.S. has warned the Assad regime it is prepared to take further action in Syria if necessary. Trump has accepted Xi’s invitation for a state visit in 2017.
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“Both the atmosphere and the chemistry between the two leaders was positive… all of us are feeling very good about the results of this summit”, said Tillerson.
