WASHINGTON, United States (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump, who has attacked China on issues from trade to the South China Sea, held his first face-to-face talks with a member of the Chinese leadership on Monday (February 27), and the White House said it was a chance to discuss shared security interests and a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat, met Trump briefly after talks with the new U.S. National Security adviser, H.R. McMaster; Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner; and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
A senior U.S. administration official said discussions included bilateral cooperation and the possibility of arranging a meeting between Trump and Xi, but no date was set.
The official said the meeting with Trump lasted five to seven minutes.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer called it “an opportunity to say ‘hi’ to the president” before Yang left.
“This was an opportunity to begin that conversation and talk to them on shared interests of national security,” he added at a regular news briefing.
Yang, who outranks China’s foreign minister, is the first top Chinese official to visit the White House since Trump took office on Jan. 20.
