Differing tones in readouts from the U.S.-China summit… China omits ‘rare earths’, the U.S. omits ‘military cooperation’ - 경향신문

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China emphasizes ‘equality’, the U.S. emphasizes ‘reciprocity’

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump take a photo together in front of the White House on the 25th./UPI Yonhap News

Following the two-night, three-day summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two governments each announced the outcomes. The readouts show that the U.S. and China reached agreement on some issues such as trade, but also revealed differences on major pending matters.

The fact sheet released by the White House on the 25th (local time) and the ‘Eight-Point Common Agreement’ released by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 26th both state that the sides agreed to establish an investment and trade committee and to mutually reduce tariffs on $30 billion (about 40.8 trillion KRW) worth of non-sensitive items. They also note that China is actively stepping up controls on precursor substances for narcotics, and that the U.S. and China have cooperated closely and achieved results in enforcement.

It was also commonly noted that the two leaders agreed Iran must fulfill its promise not to develop nuclear weapons, and that no country or organization should impose transit fees on international waterways.

What the two governments chose to emphasize differed. The Chinese side put first the goal of building a ‘constructive strategic stability relationship between China and the U.S. based on respect·fairness·equality’. Since the phrase ‘strategic stability relationship’ appeared at the U.S.-China summit in May, this is the first time ‘respect·fairness·equality’ has been mentioned together with it.

The United States presented the fentanyl issue as the first achievement. Regarding the tenor of bilateral relations, it used the formulation ‘a constructive strategic·stable relationship based on respect·fairness·reciprocity’. Where China highlighted ‘equality’, the United States used the expression ‘reciprocity’, meaning that both sides act in good faith and exchange benefits.

There were also many parts of the trade-related issues that were absent from the Chinese materials. The fact sheet said the two sides are continuing consultations to address U.S. concerns over shortages in supply chains for critical minerals such as rare earths, with the goal of restoring adequate supply levels. The rare earths issue does not appear in the Chinese materials.

In line with the strategy of President Trump to revive the coal industry, the fact sheet alone states that China will import at least 10 million tons of U.S. coal in each of 2027 and 2028.

On the items covered by the U.S.-China tariff agreement, the U.S. side provided more detail. According to the fact sheet, U.S. export items include agricultural products, seafood, logs, cosmetics, and medical devices, while import items include small home appliances, toys, holiday decorations, and child car safety seats for infants and children.

The fact sheet also stated that the U.S. and China discussed Russia and North Korea in addition to Iran, but the Chinese materials did not mention Russia or North Korea.

The U.S. side, after the line “We fought alongside China in World War II,” added that “since the war, the forward-deployed military forces of the United States have preserved a free and open Indo-Pacific and contributed to American prosperity across generations.” This, too, appeared only in the fact sheet. The Chinese side included only that the leaders noted the United States and China fought together in World War II.

The points that U.S. and Chinese defense authorities will strengthen communication, and that they agreed to promptly conclude a memorandum of understanding to continue cooperation on the search for the remains of missing U.S. service members in China, appear only in the Chinese materials. The Taiwan issue was not mentioned in either side's materials.

Both sides also included that they will launch a dialogue mechanism to manage AI risks. However, the United States said it would refer to the subject of the AI dialogue mechanism as superintelligence (SI). This follows the view of President Trump that ‘artificial’ carries the nuance of ‘fake’, and his intent to highlight that the subject of the AI dialogue is not industrial technology.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on terminology, saying, “We respect the U.S. side's expression.”