President Donald Trump said Monday that his upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping will go well beyond tariffs and trade. Speaking to reporters at the White House on May 11, Trump confirmed he plans to raise U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, and the case of Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of Beijing’s Zion Church, who was arrested late last year.
The Beijing visit, scheduled for May 13 through 15, is shaping up as the most consequential face-to-face between the two leaders since their October meeting in South Korea. And Trump is making clear he intends to press on the issues China least wants to discuss.
Trump told reporters that Xi would prefer the United States not sell arms to Taiwan and that the topic would be one of many on the table. He also said he wants to see Lai released from prison and that he has raised Lai’s case with the Chinese before. Pastor Jin’s situation, tied to a broader crackdown on unauthorized online preaching, adds a religious-liberty dimension that could put additional pressure on Beijing.
Reuters reported on the full scope of the agenda Trump previewed:
President Trump said he would discuss Taiwan arms sales with Xi during the Beijing visit, telling reporters that Xi does not want the United States supporting Taiwan’s defense in that way. The U.S. remains Taiwan’s most important international backer and is legally bound to help with the island’s defense, while China claims Taiwan as its own territory, a claim Taiwan rejects. Reuters placed the exchange inside the larger pre-summit stakes: Beijing wants fewer U.S. weapons flowing to the island, while Washington is still operating under its long-standing duty to help Taiwan maintain a credible defense.
ADVERTISEMENTTrump announced the largest-ever U.S. weapons package for Taiwan in December, valued at more than $11 billion, and administration aides said the summit did not signal any change in U.S. policy toward the island. Trump also said he would raise the case of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher sentenced to 20 years in prison in February, and would bring up the arrest of Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of Zion Church, one of the most prominent unofficial Protestant congregations in Beijing. Jin was detained late last year as part of a wider enforcement campaign tied to unauthorized online preaching regulations, putting religious liberty alongside Taiwan and Hong Kong on the summit agenda.
China’s response was swift and predictable. At the May 12 press briefing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry pushed back on every point Trump raised:
Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the two heads of state would have “an in-depth exchange of views” on major issues concerning China-U.S. relations, world peace, and development, then stated that China’s firm opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan is “consistent and clear.” The answer gave no hint that Beijing plans to soften its Taiwan position before Trump arrives, even as the White House signals the issue will be discussed directly.
When AFP asked whether China would consider releasing Jimmy Lai if Trump formally requested it, Guo called Lai “the principal mastermind” behind unrest in Hong Kong, said Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs, and added that the central government supports Hong Kong judicial authorities performing their duties in accordance with law. In other words, Beijing previewed a hard line on both Taiwan and Lai before the summit even begins.
That language is boilerplate Beijing. But the fact that China felt compelled to address all three issues before Trump’s scheduled Beijing visit begins tells you something about the leverage dynamic heading into the summit.
The Taiwan dimension is particularly loaded. Trump authorized the $11 billion arms package in December, described as the largest weapons sale ever to the island, but questions about delivery timelines have lingered. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s legislature approved $25 billion in new arms purchases on Friday after months of political gridlock, a significant number but still well short of the $40 billion that Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te originally proposed.
Some analysts have warned that raising Taiwan arms sales publicly before a summit risks giving Beijing an opening to push for limits on future sales or restrictions on senior U.S. official visits to the island. Others argue that Trump understands leverage better than most and is unlikely to sacrifice concrete U.S. interests in Taiwan as part of a broader deal.
The Jimmy Lai and Pastor Jin cases are harder for Beijing to deflect. Lai, a British citizen, has become an international symbol of the crackdown on press freedom in Hong Kong. His 20-year sentence drew condemnation from governments and press-freedom organizations around the world. Pastor Jin’s arrest resonated with the global religious-liberty community and drew attention to China’s tightening grip on Christian worship outside state-approved channels.
By putting all three issues on the public agenda before he even boards the plane, Trump is doing something unusual in presidential diplomacy with China. Most presidents keep their ask list private, worried about embarrassing their hosts. Trump is telling Xi, and the world, exactly what he plans to bring up, and daring Beijing to respond.
Whether any of it moves the needle will depend on what happens behind closed doors in Beijing this week. But the table is set, and the items on it go far beyond trade.
