Chinese President Xi Jinping has cautioned United States President Donald Trump that tensions over Taiwan could damage relations between both countries and possibly trigger conflict.
Xi delivered the warning on Thursday during talks with Trump in Beijing at the start of a high-level summit between the two world leaders.
The Chinese president stressed that Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue in relations between Washington and Beijing.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to remarks released by Chinese state media shortly after the meeting began.
“If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation,” Xi added.
Trump arrived in China for the summit amid increasing international attention over trade, Iran and Taiwan. The visit marks the first trip by a US president to China in almost ten years.
During his opening remarks, Trump praised Xi and described him as a “great leader” and “friend”. He also invited the Chinese president to visit the White House in September.
“There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump said after an official welcoming ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Although Taiwan dominated early discussions, both leaders also highlighted the importance of cooperation between their countries.
Xi said China and the United States must avoid rivalry and maintain stable ties.
“The people of China and the United States are both great peoples, achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese great nation and making America great again can go hand in hand,” Xi said during a state banquet.
“We both believe that China and the US relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. We must make it work and never mess it up,” he also said.
Chinese officials said preparatory economic and trade discussions between representatives of both countries in South Korea had produced “balanced and positive outcomes”.
Al Jazeera correspondent Katrina Yu, who reported from Beijing, said China appeared ready to cooperate with the United States on several global issues but remained firm on Taiwan.
She said Beijing viewed Taiwan as a non-negotiable issue and expected Washington to respect the “one China” policy.
The White House later described the meeting between both leaders as productive.
“The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between our two countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into our industries,” the White House said.
The summit also touched on Iran and global energy security. Both leaders reportedly agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open for international energy supplies and that Iran should not possess nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Taiwan said it remained in close communication with Washington and had not seen any “surprising message” from the Beijing talks.
