Trump reportedly asked Xi to meet with Takaichi

Hong Kong – U.S. President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping at their summit last month to hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported Thursday.

Xi was not receptive to the proposal, according to the paper.

During the last U.S.-China summit in Washington, Trump expressed concern that China’s restrictions on rare earth exports to Japan were also affecting U.S. industries, adding that this situation indirectly violates the U.S.-China trade truce.

Xi responded that China-Japan relations should be separate from China-U.S. relations. He also claimed that the risk of a resurgence of Japanese militarism is growing.

The newspaper also reported that the Japanese government has requested a bilateral summit with China on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen next month.

However, China suggested that, instead of Xi, Premier Li Qiang, the second-ranking official in the Chinese Communist Party, would meet with Takaichi. Japan responded cautiously to this offer, according to the report.