Why Xi Jinping wants Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet for WWII commemorations

As China revises its attitudes to World War II it is also looking to reset its relationship with the US president and set up a summit with Russia.

Could Trump meet Xi and Putin for 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War?

Trade deals between the United States and China have reversed President Trump’s hostility to Beijing and raised suggestions that he will be invited to meet both President Xi and President Putin for a summit in September.

A visit by Trump to Beijing would mark a striking reversal after his months of criticism of China over America’s trade deficits and his accusations of its complicity in drug trafficking.

China has announced plans to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War with a parade in Tiananmen Square in September and Putin has accepted an invitation to attend.

China and the US co-operated closely during the war, when both were attacked by Japan. Analysts as well as some ordinary Chinese have urged Xi to seize the opportunity and host Trump and Putin for a three-way summit.

“Why not align Trump’s visit with the September 3 parade?” Jin Canrong, one of China’s most prominent nationalist commentators, said in an interview with Guancha, a Shanghai-based news website.

“From 1941 to 1945, China and the US were allies against Japanese militarism. If President Trump visits China and attends the parade on September 3, it would send a strong, positive signal to the world. The image of the Chinese, Russian and American leaders standing together could be a powerful message of peace and stability.”

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in 2019. Picture: AFP

The Chinese authorities have tacitly encouraged speculation, refusing to deny a report by the Japanese news agency Kyodo that a decision to invite Trump had been made.

The 80th anniversary of the end of the war, known in China as the People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, comes at a time of unprecedented uncertainty in world affairs.

Trump came to power when American relations with Russia and China had deteriorated due to the war in Ukraine, accusations of spying and political interference, trade relations and technological rivalry. But Trump said his aggressive approach and allegedly close personal relations with Xi and Putin could lead to a resolution of all outstanding issues on American terms.

Results have been mixed. The war in Ukraine has continued and Trump has expressed his disillusionment with Putin’s intransigence.

However, his imposition of tariffs amounting to an extra 145 per cent on Chinese imports was swiftly abandoned and replaced with a more favourable deal, a mutual 10 per cent additional rate and 20 per cent extra on Chinese imports, pending a resolution of the drugs issue. America says China could do more to crack down on exports of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, the opioid that has laid waste to parts of middle America.

In recent days, relations have warmed further. China has lifted restrictions on the exports of rare earths, which had been a particular concern of Trump’s – they are vital for products such as electric car batteries and China dominates their global processing.

In return, the US has eased restrictions on the sale to China of some high-end computer chips. Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, the leading US manufacturer of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence, has been on a celebratory tour of China this week. Nvidia is the world’s most valuable company with a market valuation higher than Britain’s annual GDP.

Chinese troops during the Battle of Changde in 1944. Picture: Getty Images

Huang, a Taiwanese-born American, has been ecstatic in his praise of the possibilities of US-China technological collaboration. “The Chinese market is massive, dynamic and highly innovative, and it’s also home to many AI researchers,” he said in an interview with state television. “Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market.”

Asked in another interview whether his views clashed with those of the US president and Republican Party leaders who identify China as America’s main threat, he said he had spoken before his trip to Trump, who had wished him well. “There is always room for two people in any house,” he said. Trump and Xi have invited each other for visits, although without setting dates. A summit on the sidelines of the war commemorations would be a good pretext.

China lost 20 million people in the Japanese invasion in the 1930s and 1940s, when forces loyal to the Kuomintang government were pushed out of Beijing, Shanghai and the former capital, Nanjing, into a rump state in the southwest.

Chiang Kai-shek, the former general and Chinese president, inspecting officers at Lushan city in Jiangxi, in the 1940s. Picture: Alamy via The Times

The US flew in aid over the Himalayas and when relations between the two powers were better than at present, Chinese state media paid regular tribute to the American pilots of the “Flying Tigers”, as their resupply squadrons were nicknamed.

The world war also presents political difficulties. The Communist Party’s role in fighting the Japanese was minor against that of the Kuomintang, which then lost the civil war to the communists and fled to Taiwan to be the dominant party there for decades. Now, relations with the Kuomintang as Taiwan’s “pro-unification” party have improved and Xi sees the war as a way to emphasise solidarity with former allies, notably Russia, which also suffered huge losses.

Wen-Ti Sung, a Taiwan-based analyst of Chinese politics, said the September commemorations would also be a useful distraction from Xi’s political woes, including a sluggish economy. “The anniversary commemoration has become more important because it generates nationalist pride that can temporarily sweep various domestic dissent under the rug,” he said.

Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

A visit to China, and a meeting with Putin and Xi, would appeal to Trump’s highly personal approach to leadership. It would also reassure Xi and Putin, as a summit in Beijing would mean they could control both the agenda and the political messaging.

For that reason, however, the chances that Trump would accept were slim, Sung said. “Yes, Trump may want to feel like a great man of historical importance, and sharing a stage with two other strong, great power leaders,” he said. “But Trump will want to meet them on US soil instead. I don’t see Trump being interested in being just one of the three amigos at Xi Jinping’s party.”

The Times