Trump sees progress on TikTok, says will visit China

US President Donald Trump hailed Friday what he called progress with Chinese President Xi Jinping, including on selling the blockbuster app TikTok and said he would visit the Asian power, which offered a more cautious assessment of their talks.

The leaders of the world’s two largest economies spoke by telephone for the second time since the return to the White House of Trump, who has tried to keep a lid on tensions despite his once virulent criticism of China.

Trump told reporters ahead of the call that he hoped it would finalise a deal to take TikTok out of Chinese hands, TikTok, the hugely popular social media with young Americans, that the Republican mogul has turned to himself to garner support.

Neither side reported a final agreement but Trump said the call was “very productive.”

“We made progress on many very important issues, including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He said he would meet Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in South Korea starting at the end of next month and that he would travel to China next year.

Trump said Xi would also visit the United States at an unspecified time and that the two leaders would speak again by telephone.

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– Chinese warning on ‘market rules’ –

China offered a sterner take on the talks.

“On the TikTok issue, Xi noted that China’s position is clear: the Chinese government respects the will of enterprises and welcomes them to conduct business negotiations based on market rules, to reach solutions that balance interests and comply with Chinese laws and regulations,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

“China hopes the US side will provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing in the United States.”

It described the call as “frank and in-depth.”

The US Congress last year during Joe Biden’s presidency, passed a law to force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell its US operations for national security reasons or face the ban of the app.

US policymakers, including in Trump’s first term, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence on what they see on social media.

But Trump, an avid social media user, on Tuesday once again put off a ban of the app, which he has credited as a factor helping him win the 2024 election.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that under an upcoming deal TikTok’s US business would be “owned by all American investors, and very rich people and companies.”

The Wall Street Journal raised the possibility of a consortium to control TikTok that would include tech giant Oracle and two California investment funds — Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

Oracle owner Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, is a supporter of Trump, meaning TikTok would be the latest media or social media app to come under the control or influence of the president.

– Tariff truce –

Trump while on the campaign trail bashed China relentlessly as an enemy but since returning to office has spoken of his strong relationship with Xi.

Both sides dramatically hiked tariffs against each other during a months-long dispute earlier this year, disrupting global supply chains.

Washington and Beijing then reached a deal to reduce levies, which expires in November, with the United States imposing 30 per cent duties on imports of Chinese goods and China hitting US products with a 10 percent tariff.

The phone meeting comes after Xi organised a major summit this month with the leaders of Russia and India — and invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to observe a major military parade in Beijing to mark the end of World War II.

Trump accused China and Russia of conspiring against the United States.

Xi in the Chinese social media readout voiced appreciation for the US role in World War II.

AFP