President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a three-day state visit this week, marking the first time the foreign leader has traveled to the United States since 2023.
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While the agenda is wide-ranging and could include a variety of topics, there are certain things Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are urging Trump to press Xi on — and some things they hope he won’t offer concessions on.
Xi is scheduled to land at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, where Trump is expected to give a rare welcome on the tarmac.
“I feel like the stronger our relationship is with China, the more likely we are to solve very difficult problems,” Utah Sen. John Curtis told the Deseret News. “Cautiously, I’m supportive, but if we’re not prepared, if we make calls off the cuff — that would concern me.”
It’s not entirely clear what the two world leaders will focus on in their discussions. But Chinese leaders outlined a number of topics they want to be off-limits — including “the Taiwan question,” according to an op-ed written by Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the United States, in local media.
Chinese leaders have said for decades they plan to invade Taiwan in pursuit of unification, with Xi previously stating his desire to invade the country by 2027. Despite the government of the People’s Republic of China never controlling Taiwan, top country leaders say the country is a “breakaway province” that belongs to China.
Defending Taiwan’s sovereignty and denouncing Chinese aggression has long been a priority for Curtis — and a personal one. Curtis served his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Taiwan, and he considers it a global interest to protect the country’s autonomy.
While meeting with Xi, Curtis and other Senate Republicans said they hope the president does not renege on U.S. support for Taiwan and that he doesn’t provide concessions such as the halt of arms sales to Taiwan.
“The president should look President Xi in the eye and say, ‘With all the respect I can muster, the short answer to your request that we not help Taiwan is no. The long answer is hell no,’” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “That’s what he should do. If China gains control of Taiwan, to me, it’s almost unthinkable. It will be breathtakingly devastating to the entire world. There aren’t words in English for me to explain how bad that would be. It shouldn’t even be under consideration. It’s nonnegotiable, in my opinion.”
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Senators hope Trump will press Xi on AI
Republicans are also hoping Trump will press Xi on the issue of artificial intelligence, particularly as lawmakers consider legislation reining in the industry and implementing guardrails on existing technology. While some lawmakers warn about the unknown capabilities of artificial intelligence, others maintain the U.S. should not fall behind foreign adversaries — especially China, which would not be beholden to U.S. guardrails and would need to establish its own rules.
“I would like to see them perhaps come up with something in the area of the AI world,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Wednesday. “I think if there are rules that everybody can come up with that make sense, that keep the world safe, then that would be, in my view, something to consider and talk about.”
Curtis emphasized the desire for Trump to push Xi on AI regulations, noting it would be “a mistake” to avoid it.
“This can’t be done in a bubble here in the United States,” he said.
Still, some Republicans have reservations about Trump meeting with the Chinese president, others have concerns about the optics of hosting a state dinner for someone who they consider a dictator.
“Had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States, based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters on Tuesday.
But the spectacle isn’t a concern among all Republicans. Curtis noted the dinner and grand welcome is customary to greet world leaders.
“How do we appropriately allow him the same dignity we hope our president would have in China and anywhere in the world?” Curtis said. “So I do think it’s a balance, and I think it’s fair to say our president has proclivity for ‘big.’ But it’s probably not my biggest worry though.”
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