China’s Xi to hold first meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in April

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday he faces tough meetings with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a Florida summit next week, one with a full agenda that ranges from Trump's attacks on Chinese trade practices to concern about North Korean nukes.

"The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses," the president said in a pair of tweets. "American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives."

Climate change and Chinese military maneuvers in the South China Sea are also potential topics as Trump and Xi hold what figures to be a get-to-know-you set of meetings April 6-7 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.

"The two leaders will discuss global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual concern," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in announcing the first face-to-face meetings between the two leaders.

The long-planned summit comes after months of criticism by Trump over what he calls unfair Chinese trade practices, including claims of currency manipulation. The president has threatened to slap new import taxes on Chinese goods.

China, meanwhile, has denounced Trump's bellicose rhetoric as a threat to cooperation between the United States and China.

"Both sides should work together to make the cake of mutual interest bigger and not simply seek fairer distribution," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing in announcing the Trump-Xi summit.

The Beijing government also protested Trump's post-election phone conversation with the president of Taiwan, which China continues to claim as its own territory.

Trump eventually reaffirmed the long-standing "One China" policy during a February phone call with Xi. The 1979 policy obligates the United States to recognize Beijing as the true government of China, and to maintain only unofficial ties with Taiwan.

The new American president has also called on China to rein in North Korea's nuclear missile programs. China, meanwhile, opposes deployment of a missile defense system in South Korea, an American ally.

Another likely meeting topic: China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea to be used as military bases. Surrounding countries have expressed alarm at what they see as Chinese military expansion in key shipping lanes.

Climate change is also likely to surface at the Trump-Xi summit. Trump, who has described climate change as a hoax perpetrated by China, enters the meeting after making moves to roll back President Obama's program to restrict the emissions of greenhouse gases, imperiling a climate change deal the Obama administration struck with China.

This will be the second time Trump has used Mar-a-Lago for a diplomatic summit. He hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the golf resort last month.

The White House also announced the president and first lady Melania Trump will host President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan at a dinner on the evening of April 6. Trump-Xi meetings will take place the next day.

Spicer said the two leaders have only spoken by phone, and the summit is "an opportunity for President Trump to develop a relationship in person with President Xi."

Spicer added: "We have big problems ... I mean, everything from the South China Sea to trade to North Korea. There are big issues of national and economic security that need to get addressed."

Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said Trump meets Xi at a time when the new administration is still seeking to define its Asia policy. She noted that Trump advisers appear to be divided on the subject: "Some favor a hard-line approach on economic and military issues; others are looking to cut deals with Beijing."

Trump is likely to pressure Xi over North Korea, while Xi will likely stress the "One China" policy, Rapp-Hooper said.

"Overall, however, we should expect the results to be limited: with few concrete objectives and without a coherent approach," she said. "The biggest takeaway from the Trump-Xi meeting may be that it was premature."

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