15.05.2026, Beijing.
US President Donald Trump traveled to China without having resolved the conflict in Iran, which allowed Chinese President Xi Jinping to subtly threaten the US president with war over Taiwan, Rossa Primavera News Agency China Desk notes.
At the beginning of the year, there was speculation that Trump’s trip to China could take place in March or April. Many experts stated that operations against Venezuela and Iran had been timed specifically for the visit to China. The US leader apparently expected that convincing victories in those countries would give him a strong position in negotiations with the Chinese leader.
But while everything indeed went very well for the USA in Venezuela, the US military machine stalled in Iran. Trump’s visit to China was postponed, yet the United States failed to force Tehran to change course either through a month and a half of full-scale bombing or through a month of negotiations.
As a result, Trump’s visit to China began on May 14. He arrived in Beijing having become completely entangled in his conflict with Tehran, where no favorable options for Washington are visible.
The collapse of the full-scale attack on Iran is far more significant than the success of the cavalry-style raid on Caracas, which, apparently, was secured not by the power of the US Armed Forces but by betrayal within the Venezuelan elite.
Thus, Trump arrived in Beijing, in his own words, “with no cards.” The failure of the US Armed Forces in Iran gave Xi Jinping grounds to negotiate from a position of strength.
During talks with Trump, Xi stated, “Taiwan independence is fundamentally incompatible with peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the greatest common divisor between China and the US.”
Considering that Chinese diplomatic language is traditionally very restrained, one may confidently conclude that this statement amounted to nothing less than an ultimatum to Trump: either surrender Taiwan or prepare to fight for it.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
