Chinese state media cheer Xi-Trump meeting, say confrontation not inevitable

The official China Daily newspaper said it was encouraging to see the two-day summit that ended on Friday “going as well as it could”, after earlier “confusing signals” from Washington about how it was approaching the U.S.-China relationship.

Trump had campaigned with strident anti-China rhetoric and had angered Beijing before taking office by talking to the president of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.

But the two sides avoided any diplomatic gaffes at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that would have tarnished the meeting in the eyes of the protocol-conscious Chinese.

China Daily said both parties appeared “equally enthusiastic about the constructive relationship they have promised to cultivate”.