The Chinese leader’s visit to Washington is scheduled for September 24
“Xi will likely arrive late in the evening on September 23; he will not attend the UN General Assembly, and will depart on the 25th. He will indeed have only one day of meetings at the White House on September 24,” said one of the sources speaking to.
The Trump administration confirmed to Politico that Xi Jinping will visit the White House on September 24, but declined to comment on any other possible activities on the Chinese leader’s schedule during his stay in the U.S..
Rumors were circulating in Washington’s diplomatic community that Xi would seize the opportunity to participate in the UN debate to present China’s plans for peaceful international development as a counterweight to the ongoing U.S. war with Iran.
Diplomatic sources in New York also noted that Beijing had not sent an advance team to the city, as would typically be expected prior to any visit by Xi.
“When the summit date of September 24 was first announced, it was speculated that the Chinese might have suggested this date so that Xi could also travel to New York for the UN General Assembly,” said one European diplomat.
At the same time, neither the Chinese Embassy nor the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York responded to requests for comment.
Some Western analysts believe that China, together with the United States, could play a positive role in resolving Russia’s war against Ukraine. At the same time, others—notably Martin Wagner, a historian at the Free University of Berlin—believe that Beijing has an interest in seeing the Russian war continue and going forward.
Xi Jinping last visited New York to address the UN General Assembly in 2015, when the organization celebrated its 70th anniversary.
“This is a missed opportunity for Xi, because China has positioned itself as a strong supporter of the UN Charter and a bastion of global governance, while the U.S. is at war with Iran and is withdrawing from the international stage,” said Richard Stengel, former Deputy Secretary of State in Barack Obama’s administration .
He believes that this is an advantage for the Trump administration in the sense that there will be no contrast during the debates between a country that, to some extent, declares its support for the UN, and the United States, for which “America comes first.”.
This is a machine translation of the original article in Ukrainian. It may contain errors.
