“I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and who are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace.” —Federico García Lorca.
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On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House, a meeting that many pundits consider as the most important diplomatic engagement this month, if not this year.
What these followers of global geopolitics say is spot on because any face to face meeting between the leaders of the top two powerful nations in the world should merit the day’s headlines, considering that every flashpoint of conflict presently almost always involves the US and China.
The last time the two leaders met was in Beijing in May 2026, during which they discussed economic cooperation, artificial intelligence and regional conflicts. The two leaders also discussed the expanded market access of US businesses in China, also with increased purchases of American agricultural goods such as soybeans, and jets from Boeing. It was obvious that Trump had to put these topics on the table, having assembled a big group of American billionaires to accompany him to Beijing.
On the side of China, meanwhile, Xi stressed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open during the West Asia war—which he thought should not have started by the US and Israel—and also explicitly warned the US side against overstepping on the issue of Taiwan.
The summit at the White House tomorrow (Thursday) should be a continuation of the above mentioned discussions, with some new points for consideration since four months have passed since the last Xi-Trump meeting.
We note that a couple of days before this visit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng engaged in a marathon meeting in New York to shore up relations and perhaps agree on details of items to be taken up tomorrow. In this eight-hour meeting, the two sides agreed on a working framework for an AI dialogue, and the continued purchase by China of American soybeans.
On the issue of tariffs, Trump said in an interview that he is now comfortable with China; in fact he admitted that the then 145% tariff was too much, and at present, his relations with China are satisfactory.
An item of concern is that the temporary trade truce with China which the two countries agreed upon on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea last year, will expire on Nov. 10.
Before that, the two countries have been fighting it out using tariffs and trade controls.
China, with its trade surplus of $1 trillion, seems to have the upper hand, and is unlikely to call for or need another trade truce. Reuters recently reported that while the US tried various ways to curb cheap parcels sold by Temu and Shein, more than half of 6,500 product categories China sold to the US so far this year have grown compared to 2025.
This proves that despite the trade war, China’s trade with the US is growing by leaps and bounds.
As regards the ongoing conflicts in various places, the world is waiting and looking up to Xi and Trump for solutions, as the two leaders are influential and powerful enough to work for peace and stop the bleeding.
They may discuss and possibly agree on issues concerning the war in Iran, and even that one between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, but one topic that should dominate the talks is none other than Taiwan. Yes, Taiwan, which recently signified its intention to establish a representative office in Cebu.
We expect a tougher, stronger language from Xi Jingping when referring to China’s breakaway province, and with particular emphasis to the proposed sale of American military goods worth $14 billion that is now awaiting Trump’s green light.
These arms are missiles, drones, air defense systems, etc. that the US had committed to sell to Taiwan, at a time when many regional actors are tirelessly creating trouble in the South China Sea.
In the local scene, it is hard to miss PHL Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro, US propagandist Ray Powell, and the Philippine Coast Guard’s Jay Tarriela who have been continuously stirring the pot of hatred and animosity, using the dubious victory the country allegedly won in the SCS arbitration case.
If Donald Trump and Xi Jinping themselves are trying hard to talk and manage their differences, if President Bongbong Marcos himself wanted a sincere “reset” of Philippine-China relations—what business do Gibo, Tarriela and Powell have in muddling the issues in behalf of their masters and against the economic interest of the broad masses of Filipinos?
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