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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from U.S. President Donald Trump, who was there to welcome his counterpart instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House.
Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far he is going to honour China’s leader as he made his first state visit to the U.S. capital in more than a decade.
A 30-metre-long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi’s plane, where a 21-person honour guard was arrayed and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood waiting for Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they walked down the staircase and shook hands with the Trumps.
The welcome ceremony was also set to include a flyover by two B-1 bombers, flower presenters, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries.
The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that’s expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump’s May visit to China.
But it is also a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan.
U.S. senator critical of ‘lavish welcome’ for Xi
Beyond using the visit to try to keep “strategic stability” between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the diplomatic stops to show off for Xi. Trump has lavished praise on Xi as a “great leader” and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend, all while giving him a pass on many issues.
Chinese and U.S. economic officials have begun talks ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, where AI safety is expected to be a top issue.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the “lavish welcome.” Wicker said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.”
Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as “the purposes of China’s massive military buildup, or about China’s clear support for Iran.”
He said that “during every minute of dialogue” Trump should keep in mind that “his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbours and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. and China must interact at the highest levels because the countries are “the two largest economies in the world” and “probably the two most powerful militaries in the world.”
“The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible. It’s outrageous. We have to,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday while he was in New York.
Match of pageantry for Trump
Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new “work-of-art” helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not.
Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump — Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng was there instead. But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing.
A military honour guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” also were present. The children wore white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the traditional paint colors of the presidential plane.
First lady Melania Trump said earlier Wednesday her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because “they have a great relationship.”
“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends.
Trump’s airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before a black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into the weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.
On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.
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