The Outcomes of the Meeting Between the US President and His Chinese Counterpart in South Korea
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 573 - 12/11/2025
By: Ustadh Asaad Mansour

US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a 100-minute meeting in South Korea on October 30, 2025, on the sidelines of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The meeting resulted in agreements on several issues, which they announced in their respective statements.

Trump described the meeting as “amazing,” saying, “We’ve already agreed to a lot of things, and we’ll agree to some more right now… and I think we’re going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time.” Trump then told reporters aboard Air Force One that the rare earths agreement is a one-year deal that will be “very routinely extended as time goes by.” The president said he plans to visit China in April and Xi will come to the U.S., either Palm Beach, Florida or Washington, D.C., at a later date. “We have a deal,” Trump said. “Now, every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year… but all of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world.” Trump said China may buy a large amount of oil and gas from Alaska, but a deal still has to be reached. Trump said he cut tariffs effective immediately on China related to fentanyl to 10% from 20%. This reduces the overall rate on Chinese goods to around 47%, the president told reporters. Trump said Beijing has agreed to purchase large amounts of a soybeans, sorghum and other farm products.

Xi said, “China’s development aligns with Trump’s vision of making America great again… I have stated in public many times that China and the US should be partners and friends. This is what history taught us and reality demands.” He urged his American counterpart to “keep communication channels between the two countries open,” adding, “I am ready to continue working with you to build a solid foundation for China-US relations.”

These statements indicate that an understanding has been reached between them on the issues they announced, which pertain to economic matters. While these issues are economically important to America, they are also crucial in its efforts to draw China closer and away from Russia, as part of its containment policy. These understandings can be seen as incentives for China to pursue this goal.

Trump tried to give the impression that there was no longer any disagreement with China and that he had agreed with them on everything, as part of his method of achieving quick victories and successes, to show his “greatness” and his goal of making America great again.

There are very important political issues that were not publicly discussed in their meeting, such as Russian-Chinese relations, the war in Ukraine, the Taiwan issue, the arms race, nuclear missile development, and the issues of advanced technology and artificial intelligence. These are matters that cannot be resolved in 100 minutes or even 100 days.

America wants to make a tripartite agreement with Russia and China to prevent them from developing their strategic weapons, especially hypersonic nuclear missiles. It has not yet achieved this, and therefore it will work to offer inducements to China, just as it offers inducements to Russia regarding Ukraine, in the hope that it will achieve this.

China does not appear willing to sacrifice its close relationship with Russia for the sake of the United States, which is working to undermine this relationship and draw China closer to itself. China understands that the US will betray it in the future once it isolates it, and will begin to exert pressure on it in various areas. Indeed, China’s relationship with Russia is a valuable asset and a bargaining chip against American pressure and threats, forcing the US to compromise on its demands.

China does not want to support America in Ukraine against Russia because it has a similar problem: the annexation of Taiwan, which America is working to complicate in order to prevent its realization. China has adopted the “One China” policy since 1979, which effectively means the annexation of Taiwan by China.

China does not want to compromise on the issue of developing strategic weapons, especially nuclear missiles. This strengthens its position vis-à-vis America. Without it, America would easily be able to dominate China even to the point of invading its territory, striking at its very core, and dismantling its unity. Any country that seeks complete independence and the preservation of its sovereignty and unity must possess weapons that deter its enemies.

These economic agreements are not guaranteed; America will quickly renege on them, as is its nature. It announces an agreement in any field, but it quickly withdraws from it or violates it, justifying its breach and reneging if it deems that the agreement no longer serves its interests or that it infringes upon its sovereignty. The core of its policy is its own interests and sovereignty. Therefore, it strives to extend its influence everywhere and undermine the influence of other countries, whether friend or foe.

This is why America incites other countries against China, works to forge alliances against it, and strengthens its military bases around it. President Trump’s speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, before his troops in Japan on October 28, 2025, prior to his summit with Xi Jinping, confirms this. He boasted arrogantly, “United States is blessed with the strongest and most powerful military in the history of the world. There’s no military like our military. Not even close. Nobody has our weapons, and it'll be stronger and more powerful than ever before very soon.” He also threatened, with hubris, “Nobody makes equipment like we do. Nobody makes the ammunition, the weapons, the missiles, the planes, none of it. And if they do, the American sailor stands ready to crush them and sink them and wreck them and blast them into oblivion.” He sent threatening messages to China before meeting its president.

Whoever abandons their weapons and trusts their enemy’s promises surrenders themselves. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan relinquished 1,000 nuclear missiles because its leaders trusted Russia to protect them. Ukraine relinquished 1,200 nuclear missiles, trusting in American and Russian pledges to maintain its security. Both countries, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, then found themselves in the predicament they faced.

This demonstrates that Trump’s move toward understanding with China, and his attempt to portray it as a success, came after his failure to reach an understanding with Russia. Following his preliminary meeting with Russian President Putin in Alaska on August 16, 2025, to resolve outstanding issues between them, primarily the Ukrainian war, he wanted to meet with him in Hungary last month, before his meeting with the Chinese president in South Korea. However, he canceled this meeting because he learned from his diplomats preparing for it, especially his Secretary of State, who had a tense phone call with his Russian counterpart, that his demands would not be met.

It’s as if Trump wanted to send a message to Russia: ‘We’ve reached an agreement with China, and we’ll be able to win them over and keep them away from you. You have no choice but to come to an understanding with us, or you’ll lose.’

However, the fundamental points of contention between America and China remain unresolved. This is why Trump will visit China next April in an attempt to reach an agreement on them, given the current impasse with Russia. Russia must have understood Trump’s machinations, unless it sees China making moves that indicate a distancing, which hasn’t been observed so far.

Thus, these evil powers conspire against each other and against others, especially the Islamic Ummah. This necessitates that the Ummah establish a rightly-guided state — a Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood — to stand against them and rid the world of their evils.