US-China relations

Trump objects to Xi’s support for Iran: “Unacceptable”

During talks at the White House on Thursday, Donald Trump took issue with China’s support for Iran. This was stated by the US Ambassador to China, David Perdue, speaking to CNBC, according to *The Guardian*.

“We have made it clear to them that any assistance they provide to Iran—whether direct or indirect, involving intelligence, components, or military equipment—is completely unacceptable.”

The Trump administration has launched an economic war against Iran with the aim of cutting the country off from the global economy. However, critics argue that this strategy is ineffective without the participation of China, which has long-standing ties to Iran.

Meanwhile, Trump has praised the meeting with Xi in Washington and announced that the leaders will meet again in China in November and at the G20 summit in Miami in December.

Analyses: Lots of fanfare, little substance

Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US featured plenty of pomp and circumstance but little substance, according to analyses by *The Wall Street Journal* and CNN.

Donald Trump angered many China hawks within his own party with the lavish spectacle he hosted, while Xi engaged in classic Chinese “panda diplomacy”—with two of the animals set to move to the Atlanta Zoo.

On the trade front, little happened beyond a two-month postponement of the trade war and China’s purchase of 25 million tons of US soybeans, report *WSJ*’s Alex Leary, Alexander Ward, and Lingling Wei.

“A day of grand gestures yielded few concrete answers.”

The presidents exchanged gifts and compliments and discussed the possibility of working together to mitigate the risks associated with AI development, write CNN’s Stephanie Yang and Sylvie Zhuang. "For a historic summit intended to address the rising tensions between the world’s two economic and geopolitical superpowers, the trip to Washington was rather uneventful."

However, this suits Xi perfectly, they continue. Confident in the knowledge of China’s progress—which is causing anxiety among Americans—he could calmly exchange pleasantries with Trump and project an image of stability and cooperativeness. These moments were broadcast by well-choreographed Chinese state media, standing in stark contrast to the media chaos prevailing in the US following Trump’s ban on certain reporters.

Trump tight-lipped about the meeting: "Xi also wants to rename AI"

Donald Trump has little to say following his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Writing on Truth Social, he describes the meeting as "very productive for both the US and China" and predicts that "fantastic things will happen," yet offers no details.

Instead, he devotes the bulk of the post to a new name for AI that he has come up with.

"Just like almost everyone else, (Xi) seemed to like calling the poorly named 'artificial intelligence' by a much more accurate and important name: superintelligence. That would be 'super'! Everyone else agreed yesterday, too."

Trump introduced the concept of "superintelligence" earlier this week. He dislikes the term "artificial intelligence" because he feels it "sounds fake."

All US diplomats have been ordered to use the new name.