Trump-China visit latest: President admits US spies ‘like hell’ on Beijing after saying he discussed Chinese cyberattacks at Xi summit

President Trump told reporters on Air Force One he and President Xi could meet three more times this year, including potentially another trip to China.

In addition to this week’s summit in Beijing, Trump suggested future meetings could include December’s G-20 meeting in Miami and a conference in November of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Shenzhen.

During the Beijing summit, Trump also invited Xi to visit the US in September. It was not clear whether Xi accepted the invitation.

Asked by reporters whether he brought up with Xi the subject of Chinese cyber attacks on the US, Trump said suggested neither of them dodged the topic:

“I did. And he talked about attacks we did in China,” he said.

“You know, what they do, we do too. We spy like hell on them too. I told him, ‘we do a lot of stuff to you that that you don’t know about.’”

Trump said he declined to answer Xi when asked whether the US would send troops to Taiwan in the event of a conflict.

“I said, ‘I don’t talk about those things,’” Trump claims to have told Xi.

“I don’t want to say,” he added to reporters. “There’s only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me.”

On Air Force One, Trump told reporters he and Xi discussed US arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail” but would not comment on whether he had decided to approve a $14 billion weapons deal he previously froze to avoid alarming Beijing.

“I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right now is a war that’s 9,500 miles away,” he said.

The summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was hailed as a high-stakes affair – but appears not to have produced any significant policy breakthroughs or market-moving deals, analysts say.

It’s also not clear who the “winner” out of the two is, professor Nick Bisley of Australia’s La Trobe University tells The Independent.

“Indeed, it seems that it has achieved even less than was anticipated. Most observers had low expectations – the summit would be more about optics and atmospherics with a few token agreements about the boeings, soybeans and perhaps the creation of some mechanism to help manage trade frictions – and apart from the announcement about Boeing jets not much seems to have been agreed. Trump has made some vague noise about China buying American oil but there hasn’t been anything confirmed,” he said.

On balance, Xi probably got more out of it than Trump.

“He seems not to have given much ground, he made clear China’s views on Taiwan in a surprisingly forthright manner, and has succeeded in positioning the relationship as on a ‘stabilised’ footing in ways that give the PRC some advantages,” he said, referring to the official name of China.

“The Trump team did not appear to have done enough preparation in comparison to Xi and Trump seemed too willing to play the supporting act in a CCP drama, positioning Xi as the dominant figure in world politics.”

“The president always raises that case and a couple others, and obviously we’ll hope to get a positive response from that,” Mr Rubio on Thursday told NBC News. “We’d be open to any arrangement that would work for them, as long as he’s given his freedom,” he said of Mr Lai.

Donald Trump said he discussed denuclearisation with Xi Jinping during their summit in Beijing, but declined to provide further details about the talks.

The US president did not specify which country or region the discussions focused on.

He also claimed that he discussed North Korea with Xi.

​China has agreed to ⁠buy 200 Boeing planes, with ⁠a ​potential ⁠commitment ⁠to purchase ​up ⁠to 750 ‌planes, US president Donald ‌Trump told ‌reporters on Friday.

Trump ⁠said the planes would have General Electric engines.

Donald Trump said China had agreed to buy “billions of dollars” worth of American soybeans and 200 Boeing aircraft following his summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing.

He added there is a potential for future commitments reaching as many as 750 planes.

Trump said the deals would be a major boost for US farmers and manufacturers.

He added that the Boeing aircraft would use engines made by General Electric.

The US president also said he was weighing whether to lift sanctions on Chinese oil companies that purchase Iranian oil, saying a decision could come “over the next few days”.

Boeing’s share price dropped 4 per cent when Trump announced the deal in a Fox News interview, as it falls far short of the expected 500-aircraft deal reportedly being discussed.