At the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for September, the US side is confused about how to approach President Xi, and the Chinese side is perplexed by this. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported this, citing an article from the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post.

This situation is a repeat of President Trump's visit to China in May, but this time, since it is President Xi's state visit to the US for the talks, the US side will be taking the lead. The fact that the US side is in disarray is further unsettling China.

According to sources, President Xi Jinping's visit to the US in September will be his first state visit to the US since 2015, but there has been little progress towards realizing related outcomes. Chinese officials are said to be once again facing a Trump administration that lacks planning and coordination and is in organizational disarray. According to reports, even during President Trump's "historic visit to China" in May, confusion in the US side's preparatory work disappointed the Chinese side.

A source familiar with the preparatory work stated that, even now, there is no single person or department on the US side responsible for systematically addressing President Xi's visit. As a result, there is a clear lack of leadership on the US side, leading to a situation where most officials from both sides are proceeding with routine preparations (as a matter of diplomatic protocol, without substantive prior negotiations on policy). When President Trump visited China in May, the Treasury Department and the Office of the US Trade Representative played central roles. Similarly, for President Xi's visit to the US in September, the US State Department is still basically not involved.

Two sources familiar with China's thinking stated that since neither the US nor China holds significant expectations for substantive outcomes from the September summit, the preparatory work appears to be related to operations, logistics, and image. The only concrete discussion topic is said to be a tariff reduction of approximately $30 billion (approximately 4.8 trillion yen) on Chinese products.

Since most of the protocol, venue, and public relations will be controlled by the White House, Chinese officials are particularly sensitive to the developments of the situation. This is because it weakens China's ability to respond in terms of public opinion and avoiding unforeseen circumstances.

According to sources, the main reason for the slow progress in planning stems from persistent disagreements within President Trump's inner circle regarding the tone and framework for dealing with President Xi. While US government officials such as Deputy Assistant to the President Stephen Miller and Stephen Chang are urging President Trump to show strength, others reportedly hope that President Trump will ease relations with President Xi.

President Trump previously suggested September 24 as the date for President Xi Jinping to visit the White House. US Secretary of State Rubio also stated last month that this visit is still proceeding as planned.

This visit by the Chinese leader to the US was supposed to take place at a time when the two major economic powers were striving to stabilize their relationship. This relates to President Xi and President Trump agreeing to establish a "constructive and strategically stable relationship" at their summit in Beijing in May. However, the two countries have recently taken a series of directly conflicting measures, and the stable phase of their relationship is being put to the test. (Translation and Editing / Kisaragi Hayato)