US strikes on Syria dominate Trump-Xi talks
By
Peter Symonds
8 April 2017
The criminal US attack on Syria with a barrage of cruise missiles cast a menacing shadow over talks underway at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago luxury resort in Florida with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The strikes, which took place as the two men were dining on Thursday evening, sent a message to Xi that the US was prepared to use military force without warning to achieve its ends.
In the lead-up to the much anticipated summit, the Trump administration repeatedly warned that it would use “all options,” including military strikes, to ensure that North Korea halted its nuclear and missile programs. Just days before Xi arrived, Trump told the Financial Times: “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you.”
Speaking briefly after talks yesterday, Trump absurdly declared that “tremendous progress” had been made in “our relationship with China” and that his own relationship with Xi was “outstanding.” He added: “I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away.”
For more than a year, both during the US presidential election campaign and following his installation in office, Trump has repeatedly denounced China over trade, alleged currency manipulation, failure to rein in North Korea and Beijing’s reclamation and construction in the South China Sea.
As president, Trump openly called into question the basis of US-China relations—the so-called One China policy under which the US recognises Beijing as the sole legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan
With the attacks on Syria in the background, Trump clearly threatened that the US would take unilateral action against North Korea, if the Chinese government did not force…