US and China Tout 'Achievements' After Summit, Yet Diverge on Rare Earths, AI, and Taiwan

While the United States and China highlighted the achievements of their summit through respective official announcements, significant discrepancies were identified on key pending issues.

In the trade sector, they agreed on mutual tariff reductions amounting to 30 billion dollars (approx. 40.8 trillion won) and the operation of trade and investment committees, but rare earths, a core sticking point, were entirely omitted from the Chinese side's announcement.

In the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, they agreed to establish dialogue channels, but specific cooperative measures such as creating joint norms were not included in the announcements.

The Taiwan issue was also discussed during the summit, but neither side included it in their summit outcome announcements.

The White House stated in a fact sheet on the 25th (local time) that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping "agreed to build a constructive relationship that promotes strategic stability based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity."

China also announced "eight major achievements" of the summit through its state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 26th, stating that the two countries agreed to build a "China-US constructive strategic stability relationship based on respect, fairness, and equality."

China highlighted that the expressions "respect, fairness, and equality" were newly added to the "constructive strategic stability relationship" put forward during the summit last May.

Both sides jointly presented as achievements the application of lower tariffs on non-sensitive items worth 30 billion dollars each in the trade sector, as well as the activation of bilateral trade and investment committees.

There were differences in the detailed announcement contents.

The White House stated in its fact sheet that both sides are continuing consultations to address U.S. concerns regarding shortages in critical mineral supply chains, including rare earths, with the goal of restoring appropriate supply levels.

On the other hand, the rare earths issue was not included in the summit achievements announced by China.

The White House also announced tariff-reduced items and China's plan to purchase U.S. coal, but these details were not included in the Chinese side's announcement.

The Taiwan issue was discussed at the summit, but was omitted from both sides' announcements.

Earlier, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and others reported that President Xi told President Trump at the summit to maintain the U.S. stance against "Taiwan independence."

President Trump told reporters that day that he discussed the Taiwan issue with President Xi and that President Xi understands his thoughts on Taiwan very well.

However, he did not explain what position he conveyed to President Xi.

The U.S. has maintained its stance that it "does not support Taiwan independence and does not want any form of coercive actions to change the status quo."

President Trump stated after the Beijing summit last May regarding the Taiwan issue that "President Xi has very hardline thoughts" and "I made no commitments."

Regarding Iran, both sides stated that the two leaders shared the view that they oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and imposing tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.

While the White House stated that the two leaders discussed international issues including Russia, North Korea, and Iran, contents related to Russia and North Korea were omitted from the Chinese side's announcement.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.