Sept. 23 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump greeted President Xi Jinping of China on Wednesday evening as the Chinese leader arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, marking the start of a three-day state visit.
The tarmac greeting was a rare gesture for an incumbent U.S. president to a foreign leader. Trump and first lady Melania Trump met Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on a red carpet as the U.S. Air Force band performed the countries’ national anthems. The ceremony also included a cannon salute, a 21-person honor cordon, color guards and a flyover by two B1 bombers.
There will be another ceremony Thursday morning at the White House featuring more than 500 U.S. service members. The presidents will meet Thursday afternoon with a state dinner Thursday night.
Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized the visit and the lavishness of Trump’s treatment of the Chinese leader, The Hill reported. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said onthe Senate floor Tuesday that Trump should remember that Xi “is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.”
A statement by a group of Senate Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Coons, D-Del., also criticized Trump’s red-carpet treatment of the Chinese leader.
“President Xi gets the royal treatment while President Trump hurls threats and wages trade wars on allies like Canada,” they wrote. “This is not leadership, and Americans deserve better.”
The Democrats called on Trump to end China’s access “to the advanced chips and manufacturing equipment it needs to build dangerous AI systems,” stand with Taiwan against China and press Xi to stop supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The trip marks XI’s first state visit to the United States in 11 years.
Source: U.S. News
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