Akito Tanaka shares his weekly reflections and recommendations
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as the two begin a bilateral meeting in Beijing on May 14. © Reuters
Hello from Tokyo. This week, U.S. President Donald Trump visited China for the first time in nearly nine years, and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit, held at the Great Hall of the People, lasted for more than two hours. As mentioned in last week's newsletter, our live blog managed to cover every move of Trump's visit. While China staged a grand ceremony and both sides exchanged diplomatic pleasantries, the substance of the leaders' talks remained unclear, at least through Thursday.
Against this backdrop, major media outlets, including Nikkei Asia, have highlighted a "warning" made by Xi. According to a readout published by state news agency Xinhua, Xi told Trump that the Taiwan question is "the most important issue" in U.S.-China ties. "If handled well, bilateral relations can maintain overall stability," Xi was quoted as saying. If "handled poorly," the two countries risk a "clash" that could push "the entire China-U.S. relationship into a very dangerous situation."
The term "clash" is far from mild. Notably, the U.S. readout after the meeting did not mention Taiwan. While China has sought to project this message as a "warning" to the world, the U.S. appears to have sidestepped what Xi described as the "most important" issue in the relationship, leaving the talks sounding inconclusive.
Trump's visit to China was accompanied by prominent business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a central figure in the AI boom, who joined the trip at the last minute. Despite bringing along some of the country's most influential executives, who also have great influence on Asia's technology supply chains, the visit has so far resulted in no notable tech business announcements.
This week's U.S.-China talks, which were expected to have significant global implications, appear to have ended in ambiguity. Meanwhile, Trump has announced that he has invited Xi and his wife to the White House in September.
In this first round of talks, it appears that Xi, through his warning on Taiwan, delivered the headline-making message. Having said he will host Xi in the U.S. ahead of the country's midterm elections, Trump will likely seek to claim more tangible outcomes when the second round of the summit is on his home turf. As always, Nikkei Asia will continue to follow developments in U.S.-China relations and their impact on Asia and beyond.
1. Space is shaping up as the next frontier in the tech race as companies in both the U.S. and China aim to put data centers in low Earth orbit. On the ground, meanwhile, Asia's tech supply chain is gearing up to tap this new opportunity.
2. Vietnam's pawnshop chain F88 is seeking to shed the sector's stigma and move into the financial mainstream as it aims to list on the benchmark Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, while at the same time leverage tech to better monitor collateral and manage risk. ASEAN Money looks at how F88 is positioning itself as a provider of consumer finance to underserved borrowers.
3. After living for more than 50 years with the giant Red River as a constant neighbor, Hanoi resident Bui Minh Phuong is set for her life to be upended. She is among many in the Vietnamese capital facing mass relocations as Hanoi embarks on one of the most ambitious urban transformations in its history -- a multi-decade, $2.5 trillion renewal designed to sustain rapid economic growth as the national government targets developed-nation status by 2045.
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