Trump Moves to Preserve Xi Truce While Reassuring Ally Japan

Elizabeth Economy, Hargrove Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, discusses President Trump's calls with leaders of China and Japan and his trade truce with Beijing.

US President Donald Trump held back-to-back calls with the leaders of China and Japan, as escalating tensions over Taiwan threaten to derail his weeks-old trade truce with Beijing. 
Trump’s hour-long conversation with President Xi Jinping on Monday marked their first contact since Japan’s new prime minister enraged Beijing by suggesting her nation’s troops could be drawn into a Taiwan crisis. Xi told his US counterpart Taiwan’s return to China was an “integral part of the postwar international order,” in a call the Chinese Foreign Ministry later said was “initiated by the US.”
“I just had a very good telephone call with President Xi,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without making mention of Taiwan. The two leaders discussed Ukraine and elements of the pact struck in South Korea, he added: “Now we can set our sights on the big picture.” 
Hours later, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters Trump reached out to reaffirm ties with Tokyo and update her on the situation with China. “We’ve been able to further confirm the close relationship between the US and Japan,” she said. “He told me I’m a very close friend and that I could call him any time.” 
Stocks in Hong Kong and China cheered Trump’s efforts to prevent ties spiraling, with a tech rally leading a rise in shares.
The row between Japan and China over Taiwan — the self-ruled island Beijing considers its territory — has injected fresh uncertainty into the Trump-Xi relationship. Any hint Washington is siding with Tokyo could imperil a truce that saw the US lower fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing agree to suspend certain restrictions on the export of rare earths. 
Trump’s decision to contact both Xi and Takaichi shows the delicate balancing act he now faces. The Republican leader must reassure America’s top ally of his commitment in the face of economic reprisals and tough rhetoric from Beijing, while also steadying ties with Xi before a visit to China he confirmed is planned for April. 
That equilibrium could be hard to maintain, with little off-ramp in sight for the China-Japan spat.
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